ALBANY - Citing troubles on Wall Street, Gov. David Paterson is taking the extraordinary step of calling for an $800 million cut in the proposed state budget increases.
Paterson wants to cut the almost 5 percent spending increase in former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's $124 billion plan to 3.7 percent.
His proposal includes an across-the-board 2 percent reduction in operating spending for all state agencies, and another 2 percent reduction in the funds that the state contributes to local governments and programs.
Under the state constitution, lawmakers must reach a final budget by April 1.
“We've got to do, maybe, something we've never really done before so that next year we're not in the same situation,” Paterson said. “We're going to be in the same situation either way, based on where the national economy is going, but we don't want to be where California is.”
California lawmakers approved emergency cuts and new borrowing last month as part of their plan to cut an estimated $16 billion shortfall in half by this summer.
Since then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for 10 percent, across-the-board budget cuts to cope with a projected deficit in the 2008-09 fiscal year. That includes a $4.3 billion reduction in education spending.
Nearly 20 percent of New York state's revenues come from Wall Street. The state is directly affected by layoffs in the financial world and JP Morgan's acquisition of the investment firm Bear Stearns Companies Inc. Monday at a fraction of its worth from a week ago.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, says he would be open to a hiring freeze for state workers - an idea suggested by Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco.
The state has about 1,400 job vacancies right now.
Paterson said he probably wouldn't consider a hiring freeze, but perhaps would look at cutting some of those positions.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is seeking a tax increase for New Yorkers who make $1 million or more.
Bruno rejects any tax increases. “We realized there was a gap,” Silver said. “We proposed for this time of economic downturn that we would provide a revenue source for that downturn.”
The biggest conflict is that lawmakers can't agree on how much revenue they have to work with while planning a budget.
“We all just count differently,” Bruno said. “It's kind of hard for the public to understand how we arrive at such different conclusions from what should be the same information.”
Paterson and lawmakers were tackling the budget in meetings Tuesday.
His proposal includes an across-the-board 2 percent reduction in operating spending for all state agencies, and another 2 percent reduction in the funds that the state contributes to local governments and programs.
Under the state constitution, lawmakers must reach a final budget by April 1.
“We've got to do, maybe, something we've never really done before so that next year we're not in the same situation,” Paterson said. “We're going to be in the same situation either way, based on where the national economy is going, but we don't want to be where California is.”
California lawmakers approved emergency cuts and new borrowing last month as part of their plan to cut an estimated $16 billion shortfall in half by this summer.
Since then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for 10 percent, across-the-board budget cuts to cope with a projected deficit in the 2008-09 fiscal year. That includes a $4.3 billion reduction in education spending.
Nearly 20 percent of New York state's revenues come from Wall Street. The state is directly affected by layoffs in the financial world and JP Morgan's acquisition of the investment firm Bear Stearns Companies Inc. Monday at a fraction of its worth from a week ago.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, says he would be open to a hiring freeze for state workers - an idea suggested by Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco.
The state has about 1,400 job vacancies right now.
Paterson said he probably wouldn't consider a hiring freeze, but perhaps would look at cutting some of those positions.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is seeking a tax increase for New Yorkers who make $1 million or more.
Bruno rejects any tax increases. “We realized there was a gap,” Silver said. “We proposed for this time of economic downturn that we would provide a revenue source for that downturn.”
The biggest conflict is that lawmakers can't agree on how much revenue they have to work with while planning a budget.
“We all just count differently,” Bruno said. “It's kind of hard for the public to understand how we arrive at such different conclusions from what should be the same information.”
Paterson and lawmakers were tackling the budget in meetings Tuesday.
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