God bless Sen. Liz Krueger, vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

The Manhattan Democrat may just be the only person in Albany at the moment with solid information about what’s happening with the revenue bill (or, at least the only person with information who’s willing to share it with reporters).

The upshot: No, the Senate will not be sticking around until midnight tonight to pass the revenue bill. Why? Because, according to Krueger, the revenue bill is still under negotiations. Three ways, she said, in spite of Gov. David Paterson’s claim that he is done negotiating with the Legislature.

“I’d say we’re not leaving around 5,” Krueger laughed, noting that the 5 o’clock hour had actually passed when NY1′s Erin Billups caught up with her outside the Senate chamber.

“We have finished most of the budget bills. Obviously the big one left is the revenue bill. The governor’s not been here in New York State, in Albany. There is no message from the governor. There are still pieces being fought out debated between the Assembly, the Senate and the governor’s office. So, as of 5 o’clock, we believe we will not be completing the revenue budget bill anytime in the next few hours.”

“Of course, the version we had didn’t legally age until after midnight,” Krueger continued. “But the good news is we think there are serious negotiations between the Assembly, Senate and governor still to be accomplished. So we’re not attempting to rush through a two-way at 12:01 a.m. when we think we can actually get this last piece of the budget closed down successfully in three-way negotiations.”

Krueger said a number of things are still under discussion, including the SUNY empowerment plan and the education aid that the Legislature restored to the budget and the governor vetoed.

Krueger acknowledged that “tensions are high” and “people are frustrated,” but she insisted that everyone wants to get a deal and go home.

Share|