suit, make cuts

Gov. David Paterson's call to make enormous cuts in the state budget may have fallen short of his expectations, but the state Legislature made some important progress during Tuesday's “emergency” economic session.

While the details are still being worked out, agreements appear to have been made to cut $300 to $500 million from the current operating budget, and lawmakers also began discussions about spending reductions over the next two fiscal years. With hopes of making $600 million in cuts from the current operating budget, Paterson put lawmakers in a tough position: making necessary cuts for the good of the state in the face of threats by special interest groups that endorsements and campaign contributions will be withheld from lawmakers who go against them.

And while nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers believe the state is in its worst fiscal shape since the 1970s, 55 percent said they had little confidence that their elected representatives would address the problem before the end of the year.

These predictions were proven partly correct Tuesday as no agreement was made on Paterson's tax cap proposal that would have limited the growth of school district spending.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos blamed Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for blocking the tax cap, calling it “the height of irresponsibility.” Silver, on the other hand, touted the Assembly's passage of a bill that has no chance of gaining Senate support: a tax cap tied to an increase on taxes for New Yorkers making $1 million or more per year.

In any case, with the state making such unprecedented cuts to its current operating budget, now is also the time for local governments at all levels to look for ways to make do with less.

The Legislature may not agree to the amount of cuts Paterson is looking for, but the trickle-down effect is going to hit the least prepared municipalities the hardest.