"ALBANY - New York's top court administrator Tuesday said that the need to find $19.5 million in the new Judiciary budget to pay for raises for state judges will not derail new Chief Judge Janet DiFiore's plans for court improvements.

"We think this is a fair budget that will not in any way adversely affect court operations," Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks said. "As the chief judge has widely discussed, her top priority is to improve the quality of service that the courts deliver to the public. That effort will continue apace.

DiFiore has identified eliminating court backlogs and delays as a top priority of her chief judgeship, which began in January (NYLJ, March 31).

Gov. Andrew Cuomo completed action Wednesday on the 2016-17 state budget by announcing he had made 210 line-item vetoes from the $156 billion spending plan, all additions by the Legislature. None of the vetoes affected the combined Legislative/Judicial budget bill, A9001/S6401

Overall, the $1.89 billion courts budget is $44.4 million or 2.4 percent higher than in the 2015-16 budget." Continue Reading