Albany, NY, Apr 19, 2010 — Governor Paterson has issued a third round of bills to keep New York State government running as the state enters a third week with no budget. He's authorizing only the bare minimum of spending necessary to keep the state running. He's already held up construction projects, and state worker raises of four percent that were to have taken effect this month.Unions have filed a grievance. In addition, the governor is withholding an over $2 billion dollar payment to schools, saying New York is short on cash.

The legislature left town last week without progress on the budget. When they come back today, they'll have to agree on Governor Paterson's latest round of spending extenders, or risk a government shut down.

But building animosity is getting in the way of real budget progress. Partisan bickering was particularly bad in the state Senate, where the fight for control of the chamber in the November elections is intense. Democrats and Republican aren't talking to each other much, but they're talking abouteach other plenty. Karen DeWitt has more on the impact of the state Senate's internal politics.