This year’s budget process was one unlike any of us have ever seen, with face-to-face interaction nearly impossible, late-night debates taking place in an empty chamber, and negotiations being shaped by an overwhelming public-health crisis. During these unprecedented and unpredictable times, everyone in government has done their best to adjust to significant challenges and provide the best-possible representation to their constituents. Unfortunately, the final budget enacted by the governor and legislative majorities is a policy-laden plan that missed the mark on too many critical issues.

Residents and small businesses are facing a dramatic economic downturn likely to reshape how they operate going forward, and this budget should have been used to help guide us to the other side of this financial storm we all mutually face. Unfortunately, during a time when we needed a drastic, targeted, and unique budget, we got a policy-laden amalgamation with more of the same disappointing measures that don’t work even under the best circumstances. 

What happened last week was unwise and inappropriate. Unsurprisingly, Gov. Cuomo used this year’s budget process and uncertain environment as an opportunity to consolidate his power. He virtually eliminated the voices of local governments and residents in the process of siting large-scale energy projects. He shoe-horned in provisions allowing him to unilaterally close state prisons with only 90 days’ notice. And with the help of the majority legislative conferences, Gov. Andrew Cuomo acquired the authority to make additional budget cuts throughout the year with little involvement from the legislature.

Priorities failed to reflect the urgency or the public’s needs in the middle of the COVID-19 climate. Extending the Film Tax Credit — which, over the life of the program will give billions of dollars in handouts to Hollywood elites — at a time when businesses are closing, employees are losing their jobs, and families are struggling to pay their mortgages, is nothing short of mind-boggling. Equally questionable was the decision to use taxpayer money to build a public campaign-financing system that could potentially spend $100 million annually on robocalls, mailers, and advertisements. 

Additionally, the half-hearted rollback of last year’s terrible bail-reform law fails to acknowledge the simple reality that law was rushed, developed with no tangible data, and, ultimately, was dangerous. What should have been priorities in this budget were afterthoughts, and what was included was haphazard and tone deaf to the gravity of our situation. 

The Assembly Minority Conference offered a comprehensive proposal to help get our economy back on track. The “Small Business Recovery Act of 2020” would have provided much-needed help to both employers and employees during these financially challenging times. For no good reason, this proposal was flatly rejected by Assembly Democrats. Instead, a job-killing ban on polystyrene containers, which are recyclable, was inserted into the bill as if businesses need another obstacle during one of the worst economic crises in a generation. 

Fortunately, proposed cuts to veterans’ programs and services were [rescinded]. Assembly Republicans went around the state on our “Voices for Veterans” tour to point out the insulting and unnecessary cuts to our American heroes. In addition, the enacted budget does include $65 million in Extreme Winter Recovery Funding, which is essential to upstate communities.

However, including these measures pale in comparison to the other aspects of this woefully misguided spending plan. The governor and legislative majorities failed to properly position New York for our current crisis, for next year, and for the future. I am hopeful in the coming weeks, the New York Legislature takes a long, hard look at the real, pressing problems facing families in New York and decides to actually do something about them.       

William (Will) A. Barclay, Republican, is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact Barclay at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us or (315) 598-5185.

One of the intriguing features of the coronavirus pandemic is how sharply it has illuminated the importance of effective political leadership. Wherever we stand on the political spectrum, we’re looking to elected officials to help steer us through this crisis.

 While I don’t want to talk about specific politicians, a lifetime in politics has given me a sense of what makes a good one — as a policymaker, that is, rather than a candidate. One of the ironies of our system is that the skills and attributes that put someone in office are usually not the skills needed for success once the individual is there. Yet as a nation, we depend on politicians’ abilities in office to move us forward.

 For starters, I think the most successful politicians have integrity. When you’re interacting with many others to deal with complex and difficult public-policy issues, it’s hugely important that you can trust someone’s word. Most of the politicians I’ve met stay true to what they tell you. They recognize the need to work with others and know that trust matters. 

 For the same reason, they tend to be skillful at working with all sorts of people. Sizing others up accurately — not just whether they’re trustworthy, but the skills and strengths they might bring to a given policy or organizing effort — is vital. So is not rushing to make quick judgments, but instead letting others show through their actions what they can accomplish. Many good politicians are quite tolerant — they know people make mistakes or errors of judgment, and that nobody has a monopoly on the truth or performs flawlessly.

 The best politicians I’ve met — Bill Clinton comes to mind — also have a way of charming people who don’t agree with them. I was in a room once with Clinton and a group of people whom he knew disliked him. He was affable, engaging, and listened carefully to what they had to say; you would never have guessed he had any idea what they thought of him.

I have been impressed over the years by the energy and drive to get things done that good politicians bring to their work. Yet accomplished politicians also know how to rein in their enthusiasm and zeal. They practice patience and perseverance and prepare for the long haul, because they understand that controversial things don’t get easily done in our system. They believe that facts matter, because they’re the starting point for any productive negotiation.

Good politicians are able to put aside partisan differences when necessary and work for the common good. They don’t just want to serve their country and communities, they also know how to check their egos at the door and act with apparent humility — even when, as is often the case, their egos are quite healthy.

 No politician combines all these traits. But it can’t hurt to keep the ideal in front of us and know what the politicians we elect should strive to be.      

Lee Hamilton, 88, is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years (1965-1999), representing a district in south central Indiana.