Governor Cuomo Unveils Executive Budget
On February 1, Governor Andrew Cuomo released his proposed 2011-2012 Executive Budget which seeks to appreciate fiscal realities and eliminate a $10 billion deficit without raising taxes or borrowing. Given the historic nature of the deficit, the Governor has proposed vast changes to the State's budget process and significant reductions in spending that reflect current economic conditions.
To close the projected $10 billion deficit, the Governor's proposed budget includes $8.9 billion in recurring spending reductions, $340 million in revenue enhancements, such as tax modernization to improve collections and lottery proposals, and $805 million in non-recurring spending reductions. Additionally, to control two largest components of the State budget -- Medicaid and education -- the Governor has proposed to reform the system which enables large, automatic increases in spending without accounting for the economic climate or changing needs.
Some of the proposed spending reductions are difficult to accept because they affect programs on which New Yorkers have come to rely. The proposed budget, however, provides a roadmap for the fiscally sound solutions New York needs to get back on track.
As Assemblyman Bing wrote in a January 28 op-ed in the New York Daily News, there are huge structural problems afflicting New York's fiscal health that we must address. (To read the op-ed in its entirety, click here ). We cannot tax our way out of this budget deficit. Doing so would only hamper our economic recovery, stifle job growth and force businesses out of New York. The reinstatement of the stock transfer tax which some have proposed is a tangible example of a harmful economic policy that does not address underlying problems. The New York City Independent Budget Office determined that the restoration of this tax would reduce private sector employment by 100,000 jobs and tax receipts by $650 million. This would be hugely detrimental not just to the financial sector, which accounts for nearly 20% of New York State's tax revenues, but to the entire state workforce as with every financial service job that is lost, two ancillary jobs follow.
Furthermore, New York City residents are already taxed significantly more than our nearest neighbors - New Jersey's personal income tax burden is half of ours while Connecticut's is one-third. We must look at the root causes of our deficit problems and construct solutions based on sound fiscal policy, not politically charged gimmicks.
As the Legislature works with the Governor to come up with the smart solutions needed to eliminate the deficit without impeding economic recovery and job creation, we must also make good decisions about which services and programs we must protect. Assemblyman Bing will work alongside his colleagues in the Assembly to maintain the services upon which the most vulnerable New Yorkers rely, and will engage with the Governor to make sure the budget addresses the State's underlying, structural fiscal problems.
Assemblyman Jonathan Bing
360 East 57th Street, Mezzanine
New York, NY 10022
(212) 605-0937
(212) 605-9948 (fax)
BingJ@assembly.state.ny.us
www.assembly.state.ny.us