After his second leaders’ meeting tonight with legislative leaders, Gov. David Paterson said he’s not as optimistic as lawmakers are about getting a budget deal done.

“I don’t know why people are walking around here saying we’re very close to a deal. I don’t know why people think they’re leaving here, and I don’t know why [...]

Legislative leaders and Gov. David Paterson were unable to reach a deal today on how to close the state’s $3.2 billion deficit as some lawmakers continued to oppose spending cuts to education and health care.

Paterson has vowed to keep lawmakers in Albany until a deal is reached, but three days of special sessions over the [...]

Legislative leaders were meeting behind closed doors this afternoon with Gov. David Paterson to continue budget negotiations to close a $3.2 billion mid-year budget gap.

Senate President Sen. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, said the two sides are millions of dollars apart on a budget agreement, not billions. While Smith said the sides are close, he said an [...]

The state Legislature is expected to pass legislation that would toughen drunken-driving laws, making it a felony for driving while impaired with a child as a passenger.

The measure would also require people convicted of a DWI in New York, and every person convicted of a DWI-related crime, to have an ignition interlock installed as a [...]

So much for that reflectivity argument.

Gov. David Paterson today said that the controversial new $25 fee on license plates was nothing more than a “revenue grab” and said people do not need new plates early.

The state hoped to bring in $129 million in new revenue by forcing drivers to get new plates when their vehicles’ [...]

Gov. David Paterson called legislators back to the Capitol on Monday, but like last week the sides remained at odds over how to close the state’s $3.2 billion mid-year budget gap.

Paterson has indicated he plans to keep the state Legislature in Albany until a deal is complete, which lawmakers expect may still be days away. [...]

Sen. Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote a letter to Gov. David Paterson asking him to start taxing cigarettes sold on Native American reservations. Kruger claims the tax could generate up to $1.6 billion in revenue for the state, reports Gannett’s Jon Campbell, who attended Kruger’s news conference outside the governor’s [...]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio wrote a letter this morning to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo defending Gov. David Paterson and saying Cuomo should speak publicly if he thinks he could do a better job.

The letter comes after a New York Times article today said that Cuomo is already talking about a statewide ticket to run [...]

Despite a media blitz and a message of fiscal austerity, Gov. David Paterson’s standing with New York voters inched up just slightly in recent weeks, a Siena College poll today found.

The Democratic governor’s favorability rating was 33 percent, up from 27 percent in a Siena poll a month ago.

That was about the only good news [...]

The state Legislature and Gov. David Paterson indicated Sunday they would look to repeal a new fee that would require motorists to pay $25 for new plates when their vehicle registrations expire starting in April 2010.

The sides said they will seek alternative revenue sources to make up for about $129 million a year the new [...]