Governor Paterson says he may have to lay off state workers if lawmakers don't approve his budget plan by June. During a rare public meeting yesterday, Democratic and Republican legislative leaders said Paterson hasn't even considered their ideas. But the governor called those proposals strictly political.

"You are cajoling and fooling the public. So we've gone through the deficit reduction plans that all of you have and we feel that a lot of the cuts don't pass muster. That they're not real." said Paterson

The budget is eight weeks late. Paterson says he'll keep the legislature in special session, even if that means lawmakers have to skip state party conventions coming up in the next few weeks. He says it’s “irresponsible” to be worrying about politics when the budget is unfinished.