New York Gov. David Paterson has called on state legislators to slash $5 billion from the state's budget over the next two years in an effort to head off a ballooning budget gap.
But so far, he's not getting too much cooperation.
In announcing his plan Thursday, Paterson, a Democrat, called it a "time of uncommon difficulty." He asked the state legislature to balance New York's $80 billion budget. His proposal includes nearly $1 billion in spending cuts to health care and education, in an effort to close a projected budget gap of $3 billion in the current fiscal year.
But state Senate Finance Committee Chairman Carl Kruger, a Democrat from Brooklyn, has called Paterson's forecast of budget gaps "hysteria." He's said that he is against Paterson's proposed cuts to education and health care. Paterson, meanwhile, says that committee members don't want to "meet the obligations."
"I guess they're against the cuts, but I guess they're also against governing," Paterson tells Robert Siegel. Without cuts, the state risks having to borrow money precipitously or closing institutions, Paterson says.
When a family runs out of money, they don't spend until they have the resources. That's what I'm doing.
"I gave them six weeks to give me suggestions as to how to reduce the deficit," he says, referring to a request earlier this year that legislators come up with budget cuts. "And they're just saying, 'We're not reducing it, we're not cutting.' But they also don't want to raise taxes. When a family runs out of money, they don't spend until they have the resources. That's what I'm doing."
A year ago, Paterson told NPR that when Wall Street crashes, New York feels the brunt because capital gains receipts go down. And if company executives who live in New York don't get big bonuses, the state gets lower tax receipts. New York gets 20 percent of its money from Wall Street, he says.
"I would also suggest that New York state is in a lot of our trouble now because we bargained on Wall Street and we over-relied on Wall Street," he says. "There is no derivatives market anymore. So the kinds of resources New York was receiving are just not possible. I think we should be governing, not gambling."
Paterson is proposing $400 million in cuts to Medicaid and other health care expenditures.
"None of the cuts will apply to Medicaid patients," Paterson says. "Our cuts are calling for mergers of facilities — perhaps there will be greater crowding. It will be painful, but we're going to share the burden. The recession has hurt all of us, and it's going to take a sacrifice by all of us to save our state."
Paterson says the state needs to make payments by mid-December, and he needs action from the state Senate Finance Committee around Nov. 3.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAzMjM2NDYzMDEyMzc1Njk5NjAxNzY3OQ001))
