New York passes emergency spending plan to avoid shutdown

Politico: ALBANY — The stopgap budget approved Monday by legislators not only keeps the state government operating, it also includes nearly $1.8 billion in appropriations for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s economic development projects — and no additional controls on such spending, despite months of legislative belly-aching.

That includes another $500 million for various projects throughout Western New York, which Cuomo proposed as a doubling down on his previous “Buffalo Billion” initiative that led to the indictment of members of his inner circle on bid-rigging charges.

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