On Thursday, legislative leaders moved to override the governor's budget vetoes, the first such action in more than two decades.

After the Governor's budget vetoes, many lawmakers expected - wrongly, it seems - that Mr. Pataki and legislative leaders would negotiate to put some money back.

The city's best hope now is that budget vetoes by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo will reopen the entire issue of state aid, and force new negotiations.

In overriding Gov. George E. Pataki's budget vetoes last week, they enacted a bill permitting the sales any six days including Sunday.

The Republican-controlled Senate went along, and the money was left out when the two chambers overrode the governor's budget vetoes last month.

Historically, budget vetoes have been relatively rare, and from 1983 to 1997 there were none.

The powerful health lobby is running ads practically suggesting that the governor's budget vetoes of health care spending could kill babies.

New York's legislators were so proud last week of overriding the governor's budget vetoes for the first time in two decades.

Gov. George Pataki's recent budget vetoes spell real trouble for New York City's public schools.

Using a combination of warnings and behind-the-scenes cajoling, he managed to stop the Democratic-controlled State Assembly from overriding his budget vetoes.