ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson asked lawmakers today to either pass his $3.2 billion deficit reduction plan or give him an unusual, one-time legal authority to make spending cuts on his own.
The governor, in a four-minute address televised over the Internet, said the state cannot risk inaction in closing the red ink. He said there are major bills coming due in December for which there are not enough funds in the government’s bank.
“I understand that many legislators are afraid of the political consequences they will face if they approve this proposal,” Paterson said. “But this is in stark contrast with the fiscal reality that faces New York, so we cannot have any political issues here and we certainly can’t have the paralysis of these legislators undermining the future of this state.”
The governor has been at war with the state Senate, whose leaders on both sides of the aisle have refused to go along with Paterson’s plan to cut state funding to schools in the middle of their fiscal years. Assembly Democrats have shown some willingness to go along with some school cuts, but they have not made any specific deficit-closing proposals.
Under pressure from some senators, Paterson agreed this morning to introduce actual legislation — instead of just a news release — for erasing the $3.2 billion deficit in the fiscal year that ends March 31. Much of the plan is noncontroversial and a relatively easy lift, such as beginning a tax amnesty program or raiding off-budget accounts to ease the general fund’s red ink. But the sides have been stuck over his proposal to cut more than $1 billion in funding for schools, hospitals and nursing homes.
Paterson asked lawmakers to conduct an up-or-down vote on his deficit plan. If not, he said, they should give him the temporary authority to close the gap on his own — something that would be a huge leap of faith for lawmakers to agree to in a state where the Legislature legally must vote on budget matters.
“If the Legislature is unwilling to endure the criticism and the consequences, I will,” Paterson said. He added he just wants lawmakers to do what cash-squeezed New York families have already done at home and “make the hard decisions.”
The governor again warned that New York runs the risk of not being able to pay all its obligations next month, and is poised to slip into the same fiscal chaos facing other states that have had to drastically cut back some services.
“The day of reckoning is here,” Paterson said.
