Putting an end to state aid reduction?

The controversial gap elimination adjustment to the New York state budget is about to become a thing of the past.

That’s the feeling of Assemblyman Brian Curran, who last week presented a snapshot of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget to about 20 people at the Baldwin Public Library.

Curran, a Republican from Lynbrook who represents the 21st Assembly District, told the audience that Senate Republican leaders have warned the governor that no budget would be signed unless the adjustment is eliminated.

The gap elimination adjustment was enacted in 2011 to help close the state’s budget deficit. Part of the state’s funding shortfall is split among the state’s school districts, based on a formula, and each school district’s state aid is reduced.

But Curran said that a problem had arisen, because the state now has a surplus, yet it is still reducing aid to the school districts. “The problem isn’t when we don’t have enough money,” he said. “The problem is when we have too much.” This is the second consecutive year that the state has had a surplus, he said.

Curran opened the presentation by crediting Cuomo with trying to make sure the budget will be approved on time. He presented a slide show about the budget that included facts such as how much money is proposed for next year’s general fund, which includes most departmental funding — $59.2 billion — and its change over the current year — a 2.8 percent increase.

He also offered the audience a series of “quick budget facts,” including:

n State general fund spending has increased 20.3 percent in the past 10 years.

n State operating fund spending has increased 22.4 percent over the past nine years.

n Since 2011, growth in state spending (6.8 percent) has been lower than the combined rate of inflation (8 percent).

Curran outlined for the audience how state funds are disbursed, and focused on taxes. He noted that in the past five years, state tax revenue has increased by 17 percent, and that in 2011, New York had the highest tax burden of any state —12 percent, well above the national average of 9.8 percent.

Curran also noted that New York had the highest migration rate — citizens leaving for other states. “If you’re going to have a tax levy [that is so] high, you’re going to drive people away,” he said. “If we don’t stop, we’ll bleed people and companies.”

New York, Curran said, has the highest per-pupil spending in the U.S. The next highest is Alaska.

The gap elimination adjustment, he said, “disproportionately affects Nassau and Suffolk. The formula is weighted. The general consensus is that all Long Island districts are wealthy.”

He added that this year, “no budget will pass without the total elimination of the GEA.

“A lot of this is negotiations,” Curran said, referring to the budgeting process. “The governor comes into this and he knows what he wants.”

The 21st District includes part of Baldwin, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, South Hempstead and Valley Stream and portions of East Rockaway, Malverne, North Lynbrook and Oceanside.