Council Members Decry Quinn's Budget Proposal

The City Council speaker may be forced to abandon proposed changes to the budget process amid fierce opposition from council members.

Speaker Christine Quinn, a likely candidate for mayor in 2009, spent yesterday meeting with city legislators who are upset over her budget plan, which they say would weaken council members' power over discretionary spending in favor of a process in which nonprofits would compete for funds through requests for proposals. The rule changes, which would require the approval of at least 26 of the body's 51 members to be made permanent, were announced Friday following the disclosure earlier this month that the budget has long contained millions of dollars in grants to fake charities.

"I don't see this proposal being accepted by the council members," Council Member Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn said yesterday. "There's not going to be any enthusiasm for an RFP process that takes members out of the equation and makes it less likely that neighborhood groups would be funded."

Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. of Queens said Ms. Quinn's budget plan was "universally panned" at a meeting of the council's Democratic caucus yesterday.

Another council member, John Liu of Queens, criticized Ms. Quinn's plan as a "political cover" and said it would weaken the city legislature in relation to the mayor's office.

"There's a check and balance system that's in place, as envisioned by the forefathers, between the executive and the legislative branches, and it's unheard of that the legislative branch would unilaterally abdicate its responsibility," Mr. Liu said.

According to city legislators, Ms. Quinn told council members that she regretted not meeting with them before her Friday announcement, a move that had drawn criticism from many lawmakers.

A spokeswoman for Ms. Quinn, Maria Alvarado, said there was no timeline for the proposed budget changes and that the speaker was taking her colleagues' objections into account. "As we move forward, we're confident that there will be a way to meet the goals laid out on Friday and the concerns that have been raised," Ms. Alvarado said.