By Dana Klosner-Wehner
“You’ve been hearing the message from Governor Paterson that we’re facing a very tough time with the financial picture in New York state,” DiNapoli said. “We have a current budget hole ... of about $1.6 billion. That comes after the cutbacks that the governor instituted after the April budget agreement. It comes after the cutbacks in spending of about half a billion dollars that the Legislature and the governor implemented in August.
“We’ve got from now until March 31, which is the end of our fiscal year, to deal with that,” DiNapoli continued. “I don’t think the Legislature will come to an agreement before the end of this month. But they’ll be back in January. There are a lot of changes going on, as you know, with regard to the Legislature, but they’re going to have to deal with that gap. When you consider the state budget is $120 billion, I’m confident that they’ll be able to deal with that gap.”
What DiNapoli is concerned about is a gap of $12 billion in next year’s budget. “That’s the number the governor’s had out there, and we back him up on that number,” he said.
The way to close that gap, he said, is by making some very tough choices. “I think the first part of the message I need to leave with you is we need to expect a little less from the state than perhaps we’ve had in the past,” DiNapoli said. “I know that’s not a good-news message for us to deliver, but that’s the reality. We’re not the federal government. The state can’t print money. The federal government can do that, we can’t, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
“It means that now more than ever, you need to be working with your legislators, your Assembly representative and your state senator, making sure that you’re expressing your point of view about where you think, from the state perspective, money could be spent more wisely and where, if you hear about some of the cutbacks that I’m sure are going to be proposed in the very near future — if you feel that they are not appropriate or they will transfer a burden to you on the local level. It could be an impact on a hospital or a nursing home. It could be an impact on your school district if we’re talking about school aid. You need to make sure that you are expressing your opinion so that we could perhaps avoid some of the cuts that might be the most onerous to our local communities.”
DiNapoli stressed that budgeting is not going to be an easy process. He said that Paterson is showing the right kind of leadership and is not waiting for the last minute to get the word out about how “we’re going to grapple with this issue.”
DiNapoli explained that the governor has to present a budget plan for next year, and he is required to do that by the end of January or the beginning of February. “He’s moved up the timetable,” DiNapoli said, adding that Paterson planned to present his budget on Tuesday — “well in advance of when he’s required to do it.”
This will give people plenty of time to look at what Paterson is proposing and to have the kind of debate that’s needed to prepare for the worst in some areas where there may have to be cutbacks, DiNapoli said. “Also, if we as a community, or if the Legislature representing the neighborhoods across the state, have some better ideas about how we can get through this, there is plenty of time to debate and deal with that,” he said.
“We’re looking at efficiencies in local government. There have been about one hundred recommendations that came out of that commission.
“Just this week we have the final report from the property tax commission that our own county executive, Tom Suozzi, has been heading with some suggestions,” DiNapoli continued. “Some of it dealing with school district spending and other issues related directly to the property tax. I think those recommendations will form the basis of a very serious debate and an opportunity to look at some of these questions in a more serious way that we have in the past. And that’s something that I think we need to do. It is important to do, and it will be an important step in our getting out of this.”
He emphasized that the process must start with the spending side of the equation. And, he said, it’s not all bad news. “I’m still the optimist,” DiNapoli said. “I wouldn’t be involved in government if I wasn’t an optimist. And now that I’m past 50, I’ve seen bad times before ... and we’re going to get through this bad time.… I’m confident we’ll get through this tough time. I know we’ll get through it better if we have more citizens like [the civic association] who are involved.”
Comments about this story? JOConnell@liherald.com.
