I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think I found a Democrat ath I like. And like Brad, I just might have to look for that donkey line to cast a vote in a few years. They do still have it on the machine, right? I assume it's the same line that 3/4 of the County Legislature got voted in from.
CAPITOL State agencies scour budgets for savings BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter
State agencies have begun reacting to Gov. David Paterson’s costcutting initiatives, although there remains some confusion about what exactly they involve. David Hansell, commissioner of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, sent a memo to all staff Thursday, urging them to create “efficiencies wherever possible in your day-to-day activities (e.g., use of supplies, travel, copying), and also to cooperate in implementing any new controls and policies as they are developed. If you are contacted to provide additional justification or background for purchase orders, please take these new rules into account and cooperate fully.” Paterson is implementing the state budget, which reduced state agency operating funds by more than 3 percent from what Gov. Eliot Spitzer had proposed, for projected savings of $800 million. The agency spending will still rise 1 percent from last year’s level. Paterson has directed agencies to fill only “absolutely essential” job openings, and to come up with new spending plans to meet the cost containment targets by May 16. Paterson also has charged a task force with recommending further budget cuts, has said he’d like to start more cutting this year, and proposed chopping 5 to 10 percent off next year’s budget. He soon qualified the latter statement, though, and is apparently only talking about cutting approximately $2 billion or $3 billion from the $122 billion budget. State workers will still get their contractual raises, and are unlikely to be laid off. This year, for example, while most of the budget appropriation for the lieutenant governor’s office will not be spent, said Budget Division spokesman Jeffrey Gordon, the employees transferred out of there have been given other positions in state government. Paterson was himself lieutenant governor until he became governor last month, and there is no constitutional provision to pick a new one until the 2010 election. State Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Robert Megna announced this week that he has appointed Jamie Woodward as executive deputy commissioner and Margaret Sherman as deputy commissioner for processing and taxpayer services, the position Woodward previously held. Megna became commissioner in January. Department spokesman Tom Bergin acknowledged that the prior acting commissioner, Barbara Billet, also filled the executive deputy commissioner role for about nine months until she retired. Nevertheless, Bergin said the promotions announced this week did fill essential positions and did not contravene Paterson’s directive. Most of the 11 state agencies contacted Thursday by The Gazette declined to release any specific cost-cutting measures, but said they would submit plans to Paterson by May 16. Dan Weiller, chief spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said the Assembly would comply with the governor’s request for it to adopt the same economy goals as state agencies. Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, said Senate legislative expenditures have increased at half the rate of inflation for the past eight years, and that Bruno wants to work with Paterson. He declined to answer directly answer whether the Senate would meet the governor’s goal. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said his office would meet that goal. Paterson’s various proposals have created some confusion at state agencies and elsewhere. “It’s hard to say exactly what he’s proposing,” said Civil Service Employees Association spokesman Steve Madarasz. CSEA is encouraged that Paterson is seeking creative ways to save money, Madarasz said, suggesting the state should ask its employees for their ideas. The union also recognizes the need to save money in an economic slowdown, he said, but has concerns about Paterson’s direction on spending and hiring. Gordon said agencies can save money by not filling positions, or not them filling them as quickly; by having their employees do less travel such as going to conventions; by not undertaking renovations; and by finding less expensive office space. David Ernst, spokesman for the Civil Service Department, said jobseekers will remain on civil service lists, and it will still be up to agencies whether to hire them.
CAPITOL Comptroller says state is overspending BY MICHAEL VIRTANEN The Associated Press
State Comptroller Thomas Di-Napoli said Friday the recently enacted state budget raises spending by more than $5 billion over the previous fiscal year, projects tax revenues that are questionable in a weakening economy and contains $11.5 billion in new debt that will be issued over several years. “It’s clear this budget continues New York’s long but not-so-glorious traditions of spending more than the state takes in and borrowing too much,” DiNapoli said. Total spending projections range from $121.4 to $121.7 billion. The nearly on-time budget with less spending than originally proposed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was “a remarkable achievement,” DiNapoli said. Final budget numbers are still pending, but the forecast for the national economy has continued to weaken, the report said. Gov. David Paterson said on Thursday he will look for midyear cuts to help address a looming $5 billion deficit. And on Monday he called for state agencies to find savings and halt hiring for all but “absolutely essential” positions. The state employs more than 169,426 workers. Jeffrey Gordon, spokesman for the Paterson administration’s Budget Division, said the governor shares DiNapoli’s concerns about the state’s financial future. Paterson will issue a detailed budget analysis next week and has initiated a review of state spending to begin cutting costs for next year, Gordon said. DiNapoli said that without costcutting, future budget gaps could reach $9.5 billion in 2011-12. He noted that none of the new borrowing is voter approved or tied to any comprehensive plan to address the state’s “critical infrastructure needs.” “The reality is that the economy is in rough shape and the worst may still be around the corner,” DiNapoli said. “Governor Paterson took an important first step to address the budget’s structural imbalance by telling state agencies to stop unnecessary spending now. All across New York, families are tightening their belts. It’s time for the state to do the same.” According to the report: The budget continues to use debt to fill shortfalls, with New York’s current debt of $53 billion projected to top $67 billion by 2012-13 with debt service then rising to $7.5 billion a year. New borrowing includes $105 million for the state to acquire clear title to New York’s thoroughbred tracks from the New York Racing Association and $250 million for expansion at Aqueduct, $1.3 billion in new debt for various economic development programs and $9.3 billion for capital projects at the state and city university systems. Almost $1.5 billion in revenue may not materialize, such as the conversion of not-for-profit health insurers to for-profit status, sales tax from Indian retailers and VLT revenues. The budget uses $2.5 billion in one-time items, including $400 million in sweeps from various dedicated funds, such as the Environmental Protection Fund and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Fund.
Re: April 24 editorial, “Don’t give up on reform in Albany”: The Gazette is being too kind to our leaders in Albany. We have a budget that is 5 percent over last year’s, when we are faced with an economy that has not only declined, but shows signs of further serious decline in the months to come. Wall Street-derived revenue is down and getting worse, fuel prices are soaring, and food prices are becoming more and more a concern. Yet the process of “three men in a room” is pretty much intact, and our new governor is calling for a 10 percent reduction in next year’s budget! This is much easier than making the hard choices now — only in New York! Nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room. New York has had a culture of special interests which has been getting worse. The net effect is job security for legislators. When are we going to recognize what we are doing, year after year electing the same people over and over to represent us? It’s time each one of us looked a bit more critically at our state, recognizing that we have the highest tax burden per capita (after Hawaii), and the largest number of employees working for our Legislature. Yes, ours is at 3,900 (highest in the country), whereas the next-lower state is California, at about 2,500 people. Some way to create jobs! Gov. Paterson had a tough challenge picking up the pieces from his predecessor, and his head and his heart seems to be in the right place for what we now need. He should be working hard to pass the reforms and get the 10 percent cut in place now. B.K. KERAMATI Ballston Spa The writer is a candidate for state Senate.
Logged
