Governor George Pataki (R-NY) scratched billions out of his state budget, but Yonkers was spared from the governor?s veto pen.

Pataki, state and local leaders are celebrating bipartisan support for a record school and city aid from Albany. Yonkers will receive $100 million more for its struggling classrooms, $76 million of which will repeat in years to come.

But on Wednesday, citing his need to protect taxpayers across the state, the Republican vetoed a total of $3 billion worth of spending from the budget. Claiming the Legislature overstepped its legal bounds, Pataki nixed a child tax break for families and $350 property tax credit legislators had hoped to hand out to homeowners just before Election Day.

The governor also scratched out $650 million dollars in hospital funding, however, Senator Nick Spano (R-NY) and other fellow Republicans are hoping to restore it. Spano says what Pataki vetoed was tied to the issue of Medicaid, which lawmakers hope to reach a compromise on.