One day after Governor David Paterson said that the state was running out of money and immediate action must be taken, legislators met in an extraordinary session, but they had not reached any agreement.
Members of the State Senate and Assembly met on Tuesday, November 10 trying to come to an agreement on more than $3 billion in reductions that Paterson laid out in a speech before both houses the prior day.
“At this moment, all of us assembled in this chamber stand as the last defense to our state undergoing a downward economic spiral that threatens to engulf the future of generations of New Yorkers,” Paterson said on Monday. “We cannot, we must not, risk the future of our children and our children’s children to borrowing money that we don’t have. Nor can we engage in the tried and failed remedies of taxing and spending.”
Paterson called the legislators back to Albany for a special session and proposed a two-year $5 billion deficit reduction program that would immediately close a $3.2 billion deficit in the current budget year. The central components of the plan include cutting state agencies by 10 percent and a $1.3 billion reduction in local assistance programs with $686 million of reduction from education and $471 million savings from health care.
“These will be very difficult cuts for your constituents; I understand,” Paterson said. “I also understand if we do not make these decisions now we will subject our state to what may be a downgrade in our economic situation that is such that the economic forces will be beyond our ability to control.”
On Tuesday, the State Senate assembled around noon and met in public for less than an hour where Senators talked about the importance of Veteran’s Day and taking care of the veterans in the state. However, around 1 p.m. the session stood at ease before taking up any plans to deal with the budget issues.
“It’s frustrating to say the least,” Senator Frank Padavan said on Tuesday afternoon. “We know what can be done and what should be done to deal with these problems, but whether anything gets done only time will tell.”
Padavan criticized the Governor for allowing a 10 percent increase in the budget last year, which contributed to this year’s deficit, and he recommended collecting sales tax on Indian reservations and rooting out fraud in Medicaid as two ways to close the budget gap without having to cut funding to education and health care programs.
During his address, Paterson cited the difficult measures other states throughout the country have already taken including cutting kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes, shutting library service and even handing out IOUs. Paterson said that unless the State Legislature takes action the state could have challenges to its cash flow in four and a half weeks.
“I realize that I will not be able to do this alone, and I ask for your support,” Paterson told the group of legislators on Monday afternoon. “I will endure the heat from the special interests. I will mortgage my political career on this plan, but I will not mortgage the fate of New York.”
