Oh, HSS, one more thing… no Governor could provide funding even if he wanted to. To do so, he’d have to change the state constitution. How do you do that, you ask?
Very simple:
Someone in the Senate or Assembly proposes an amendment to the constitution. The state Attorney General reviews the proposed change for twenty days and issues a report to the legislature (concerning how it might affect other parts of the constitution and so on).
After both houses receive the AG report, they vote on it. Assuming it passes with a majority of both houses, it then has to go to the people for ratification. Assuming the people give it the OK, it becomes part of the state constitution on the next January 1.
It sounds simple, but anyone with any understanding of the way things run in Albany (displayed in spectacular fashion this past summer) knows that the chances of changing that amendment through the legislature are almost nil. And even if that passes, the chances of getting the people to okay it are less than nil (remember, only one out of every three people in New York lives in NYC).
In short, don’t count on New York ever providing funding for religious schools.
The Wolf