Rounding up votes to pass New York's $131.8 billion budget was packed with drama at the end of this fiscal year.

• Position: People & Politics - Brief article

Rounding up votes to pass New York's $131.8 billion budget was packed with drama at the end of this fiscal year. Republicans vowed to vote no on the nine-bill package, and without a Democratic vote to spare, Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, diagnosed with pneumonia, left the hospital by ambulance to cast one vote, returned to the hospital later in the afternoon, and two days later was wheeled back in the Senate chamber to cast...