Gov. David Paterson’s decision to end his campaign has not answered every question for Carl Kruger, chair of the State Senate Finance Committee.

“I still have confidence in him as a human being,” Kruger said. “But if his actions become too bizarre, there are other Constitutional avenues the Legislature can explore.”

Asked whether he was referring to forcefully removing the governor from office, Kruger repeated himself, adding, “You can take out the Constitution and read it yourself.”

Kruger’s assessment came as lawmakers from around the state continue to try and process what the governor’s decision to end his campaign will mean for the state’s flailing budget situation and for the governor’s legislative priorities going forward.

Amid calls for Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch to take the lead in the budget negotiations, there seems to be growing agreement that the March 31 budget deadline will not be met.

“I am concerned about the timeliness of the budget, because we have a short month and we have a lot of hard decisions to be made,” said Assembly Member Denny Farrell, chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

He added, “I am always confident that we can have an on-time budget. And the last 30 years, I’ve been wrong 20 times.”

Kruger made clear that he would continue to work with Paterson as long as he remained the state’s “constitutional governor,” but poured cold water over the notion that Ravitch should replace Paterson at the negotiating table, saying that if the governor is unable to serve in that capacity, then there is no reason for him to continue to earn a paycheck at the taxpayer’s expense.

“We’re not going to negotiate with Ravitch, and then Ravitch negotiates with Paterson, and then we go around in the three-ring circus,” Kruger said. “This is not Monty Hall, ‘Let’s Make a Deal.’”

Other lawmakers said that with a power vacuum in the executive office, the Legislature has a duty to take the reigns.

“All eyes are on the rest of us,” said Assembly Member Sam Hoyt. “Are we capable of governing in a time of crisis? I’d like to think we are. We have in past with Eliot Spitzer’s problems. And we damn well better step up and fill the void.”