New York State is getting closer to having a finalized budget, but there are still many tough decisions that remain.
On Monday night, June 21, the State Senate passed the transportation, economic development, environmental conservation, and public protection and general government budget bills achieving $1.043 billion in general fund savings.
“After more than two months without an enacted budget, the state’s transportation, economic development, environmental and public protection activities may now operate with certainty,” Governor David Paterson said. “With the approval of these budget bills, I’ve secured progress on a substantial portion of the state budget and we have again achieved critical savings to help address the deficit.”
New York State’s budget is more than 80 days late, and legislators remain up in Albany trying to close the $9.2 billion budget gap for this year. Paterson, who for the past few weeks has been putting cuts and revenue raisers into budget extender bills, vowed to pass a budget by June 28 or he would put the remaining cuts into additional budget extenders.
Queens State Senator Jose Peralta is confident that the legislature will reach an agreement on a budget – possibly as early as the end of this week – and he does not believe there will be a government shutdown next week.
“I think and I’m very confident that the leaders understand this doomsday scenario, and we are working hard to avoid it,” said Peralta, citing education and property tax relief as two of the biggest sticking points that remained.
Meanwhile, one of the budget developments did not spell good news for New York City as it lost nearly $300 million in Aid and Incentives for Municipalities. New York City’s aid was cut by 100 percent while no other county in the state was cut by more than 5 percent.
“It perpetuates the scam that Albany has been running from day one,” said City Councilmember Peter Vallone, who represents Astoria.
Vallone said that New York City sends $14 billion more up to Albany than it gets back in return, and he said the most recent cuts will result in the mayor and City Council having to cut additional essential services that city residents rely on daily.
“In the old days when New York City could afford it and we had big shoulders, we took care of the rest [of the state], but we can’t do it anymore,” Vallone said. “It’s despicable, and no New York City legislators should vote for it.”
Another group that will begin feeling the effects of the budget cuts is smokers. In the budget bills passed on Monday, the legislature voted to increase the tax on cigarettes by $1.60 putting the state tax at $4.35.
When you include the city tax on the prices of cigarettes, city dwellers will be paying between $11 and $13 a pack for cigarettes. Paterson’s budget projections claim that the tax increase could raise nearly $300 million for the state.
