Governor Andrew Cuomo says the New York state Legislature fell down on the job by leaving town without passing an extension of mayoral control for the New York City schools, and he has not ruled out calling them back for a special session.
Cuomo says by not voting to extend the New York City mayor’s authority over the public schools, they essentially voted for a return to the dysfunction of the old system of multiple community school boards.
“It is a dereliction of duty,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo, a Democrat, says he’s considering holding a special session, but hopes that lawmakers will hear enough from their constituents to decide to return on their own.
“I would consider calling them back,” Cuomo said. “I think if they go home and they’re not assaulted by the residents of their district and chased back to Albany, then yes I would call a special session.”
The Assembly briefly made plans to return to the Capitol on Friday, but changed their minds when it was clear there was no agreement on mayoral control, or how to extend sales tax for most of New York’s counties, which also was not renewed in the final days of the session.
The governor concedes he also failed to get lawmakers to agree to renew sales tax authorization for most of the state’s counties, or a measure to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse more opportunities to take legal action. And he says he’d like more ethics reform but disagrees with the legislature’s bill to reinstate the state comptroller’s oversight over economic development contracts. Nine former Cuomo associates face trial on charges ranging from bid rigging to bribery over some of the state’s largest economic development projects.
