NY Senate Won't Act on Paterson's Budget Plan

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  -- The state's Republican Senate majority has apparently derailed Gov. David Paterson's plans to drastically cut spending in a special session next week by saying it won't act to close a budget gap without a more comprehensive approach.

``Before the Legislature acts, we need to see what the governor is proposing for next year,'' Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos said in a written statement. ``These important decisions about New York's future cannot be made in a vacuum. ... We must not simply pass costs down to school districts and local governments and force them to raise taxes.''

Although the Senate Republican majority will attend next week's special session called by Paterson, the Republicans appear unlikely to act on his cuts proposed Wednesday.

``The governor is giving us next year's budget piecemeal, and I think the governor should actually submit his entire budget next week,'' Skelos said, adding that he thought Paterson's budget proposal lacked creativity.

``It's just hack away, hack away,'' he said.

Skelos suggested that tax cuts, like those generated under former Gov. George Pataki, would better stimulate the economy.

Paterson introduced a proposal to save the state $5.2 billion in two years by controlling growth in spending across the board.

``You can't get around the fact that we have to cut spending,'' Paterson said, noting the years of overspending eliminates the option of simply trying to increase revenue.

Paterson called for a deep cut in the promised growth of school aid, tuition increases for public colleges, and warned that he can avoid state worker layoffs if unions agree to some concessions including deferring five days' pay and 3 percent raises for next year.

Paterson also said he wants to reduce local government aid to New York City by nearly 17 percent, but spare all other municipalities, at least in the current budget. The state's largest city would still get $205 million in what are known as Aid and Incentives to Municipalities payments.

``It's not fair,'' New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. ``We pay in more than we get back, but that's the real world.''

He said the state cuts to education will almost certainly hit the classroom.

``Keep in mind, we still have that $1.3 billion of our deficit to reduce,'' Bloomberg said, citing his own looming deficits. ``We have already taken real cuts in education, trying to find ways to do more with less repeatedly over the last two or three years. Some other counties may not have, and they may have more fat in them than we have, but I certainly want to make sure we're not penalized for having done the right thing and been better stewards of the taxpayers' dollars.''

``We're just asking them to share in what is a statewide sacrifice,'' Paterson said.

Leaders in the Republican-led Senate and Democrat-led Assembly didn't provide their own ideas for cuts as Paterson requested weeks ago. Republicans lost the majority in the Nov. 4 elections. Democrats will have a 32-30 majority on Jan. 1.

``When this (special) session occurs, the Republicans will have just six weeks left in the majority,'' said E.J. McMahon, director of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy. ``And when those six weeks are up, that budget crisis becomes -- in Albany terms -- the Democrats' problem. Therefore, there is a big risk that they will leave it simply for Democrats to solve.''

Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith called Paterson's approach to budget cuts ``prudent'' and said he supports the governor's efforts.

``I disagree with my colleagues in the current Senate majority who suggest that the crisis is exaggerated,'' said Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in a written statement. ``If anything, the crisis is even greater than the governor projects and it will get worse before it gets better.''

Paterson warned lobbyists and the Legislature that New York's fiscal situation will worsen if lawmakers fail to find places to cut.

``We might have to talk about cuts, straight cuts, zero growth,'' Paterson said. ``That's a choice that advocates and legislators have to think about.''

Paterson's proposal to eliminate billions of dollars in deficits calls for a 5 percent increase in aid to public schools, instead of a projected 9 percent. The proposal sent lobbyists and special interest groups reeling.

Teachers unions and other powerful public school interest groups warned that any midyear cut in aid would create fiscal chaos in local school districts and likely be passed on to taxpayers, who are already paying among the highest property taxes in the nation.

But Paterson said the changes he proposed in schools and many other areas weren't cutting the budget, but controlling how much it grows. The state's 700 school districts would still get a $585 million increase in state aid this fiscal year under his plan. Paterson also noted that school aid has risen at a historic pace in recent years and health care spending, which he also hopes to cut, is much higher than in most states.

State Budget Director Laura Anglin said school districts have about $941 million in reserves and about 80 percent of school districts have reserves greater than the amount of the proposed reductions.

Paterson also proposed a $600 -- or 14 percent increase -- in tuition at the State University of New York and a $600 increase at the City University of New York, a roughly 15 percent hike.