New York State’s recently resolved budget battle has been an aggravating experience for New Yorkers who enjoy our state parks, some of which which were forced to close temporarily, and for school districts who saw their state aid suspended in the middle of the year. Perversely, this spectacle of legislative gridlock has been rather profitable for Albany insiders, including none other than a certain so-called fiscal conservative, Assemblyman Greg Ball. From City Hall newspaper:
Mary Beth Murphy went after Assembly Member Greg Ball, her opponent in the 40th Senate district’s Republican primary, in a statement this morning. The charge: Ball and his colleagues in the Legislature are making a pretty penny off failing to deliver an on-time state budget.
Murphy referenced a Times-Union article from July 24 that examined legislators’ per-diem expenses over four weeks during June and July. According to Murphy, Ball had gone from $738 during a similar period of time last year to $2,235 during the period looked at by the Times-Union.
“They’re still nowhere near approving a budget, which means the incompetent legislators who created this problem will continue to make extra money because of their failure to do their job,” Murphy said. “In all, [state legislators have] received nearly a half-million dollars. That is a perversion of justice. Where else but New York’s Legislature does someone receive extra pay because the have totally failed to do their job?”
How does Greg Ball react to these revelations? In classic classless Ball form, Ball responds with a non-sequitur statement that does nothing to refute to the substance of the claims against him but does engage in nauseating self-pity followed up by a political attack:
Ball said in the release that, were it not for a loan from his priest, he would be behind on his mortgage. He also accused Murphy of hypocrisy, saying the Somers town supervisor upped her salary by 40 percent.
Ball is not the only one sending out press releases on fiscal purity. Queens Sen. Joseph Addabbo sent out a statement earlier, saying he, too, returned his per diem.
“I don’t believe in good conscience that I should take my per diem pay when we did no legislative work in Albany last Thursday. Therefore, I am returning my check,” Addabbo said in his release.
That’s all well and good for a family man like Joe Addabbo, but Greg Ball has real responsibilities. In fairness to Ball, top legal talent like Joe Tacopina, who recently represented ex-State Senator Hiram Monserrate and now gets paid by Ball to suppress allegations of sexual misconduct, isn’t cheap. Won’t someone think of the lawyers?!?
