State lawmakers are putting in a rare weekend searching for consensus on a new state budget, already a day late. Leaders of the Assembly and Senate huddled behind closed doors with Governor Andrew Cuomo Saturday in the hopes of finding compromises on such issues as education spending and charter schools.
State Senator Patrick Gallivan -- a Republican from Elma -- said he also expects an accord will be reached on a bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18.
"Many people in the Legislature have constituents who are demanding they do something about this," Gallivan said. "No doubt if it's not in the budget, talks will continue."
The budget was supposed to be done by Saturday. This is the first time since 2010 that a budget wasn't in place as the state's new fiscal year begins.
Cuomo said that if lawmakers can't reach agreement before Monday he'll propose extending current spending levels.