Gov. Andrew Cuomo repeated his promise to veto legislative boundaries not drawn by an independent commission despite lawmakers today signaling that there’s no time to get the commission in place by the 2012 elections.

“My position is crystal clear, it has been for a long time,” Cuomo said at a property-tax cap signing event in Geddes outside of Syracuse. “I said during the campaign, when I was first running, that we have to stop the gerrymandering and that I support an independent commission so we have a non-partisan redistricting plan. That’s what this has been all about from day one and it’s something I’m going to pursue.”

Earlier today, Assemblyman Jack McEneny said it would be “petty” and “dumb” for Cuomo to veto lines because they aren’t drawn his preferred way. He also said the Democratic governor should wait to see the final boundaries before immediately judging them flawed.

Cuomo, however, said the process commonly referred to as gerrymandering, which involves drawing a jigsaw puzzle of lines in order to keep incumbent parties in power, needs to end.

“The position I took is the position of the people of the state of New York support. To the extent that the assemblyman has some unkind words to say about it, I would disagree, but I will leave that for the assemblyman,” Cuomo said.

He also took a swipe at McEneny, saying the Albany Democrat would prefer to keep his district more or less in tact.

“I will veto a plan that is not independent or a plan that is partisan. I’ve said that all along. That’s what the people of the state of New York overwhelmingly support. I understand the assemblyman’s point that he wants to draw his own lines. And everyone, you know, wants to draw their own lines defining their districts. I want to have lines drawn that represent the people of the state of New York,” Cuomo said.

New lines must be redrawn every 10 years based on fresh Census data. If Cuomo does veto the lines, they would need to be drawn by the courts.

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