Just a day after Governor Paterson tried to tackle the state's budget gap himself, the state comptroller echoes his concerns. Tuesday, the Governor presented his own deficit reduction plan to lawmakers along with a bill that would temporarily give him the singular authority to pass the plan on his own. Now, the state comptroller says if cuts aren't made in the next two weeks, New York will not be able to make some major payments. Our Mike Whittemore has details.

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"Unless we act, New York will run out of money even after we delay payments to schools or local governments,” said Governor Paterson.

But now, there's added pressure to get a deficit reduction plan in place. According to State Comptroller Tom Dinapoli, on December 15th, the state has a large check to write. That's when aid payments of more than $4 billion will be owed to local school districts. DiNapoli's office says that money has already been differed twice and if it isn't paid by December 15th, school districts may not be able to pay their bills or pay their employees.

Senate leaders say that isn't going to happen. Both Democrats and Republicans say a deal will be in place in time to make sure the checks are sent out. They just want to make sure that any agreement doesn’t' cut funding to schools.

“Both oppose any mid-year school cuts because of the potential that it could end up falling on homeowners and rising property taxes. We're working with the Assembly and we're confident that we're going to have a DRP in place very soon that protects schools, that protects funding and ensures that the schools get paid on time,” said Senate spokesman Travis Proulx.

All parties say they agree on roughly $2.8 billion of the projected $3.2 billion gap. They will be back on Monday and when they return, they will be up against the clock. Not only do they have to pay the bills, but the Senate also has to make good on another promise, bringing the marriage equality act to the floor for a vote by the end of the year.