Paterson On State Finances: What’s Going On Around Here?
-
- April
- 30
Gov. David Paterson warned today that New York faces a $20 billion budget gap over the next three years, raising concern that future belt tightening is desperately needed.
Paterson said a state economic report to be released Thursday will show that New York faces a roughly $5 billion budget gap in the 2009-10 fiscal year and a 50 percent increase in the deficit in the two following years, bringing each year’s gap to about $7.5 billion.
The state Legislature and Paterson approved a 2008-09 budg
et on April 9 that closed a $4.6 billion budget gap.
“Right now we have to bring some fiscal reality to the state and sometime I wonder what’s going around here because we are deep in debt,” Paterson told reporters.
Despite approving a $121.7 billion budget that increases spending by nearly 5 percent, Paterson has been increasingly critical of state spending.
He has warned that state lawmakers may need to make further cuts to the budget this year, and has called on legislators to start working soon on next year’s budget to prepare for the future budget woes.
The state’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 3:26 pm by Joseph Spector.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: 
| 
| 
Email This
Say what? Isn’t this the same Paterson who handed over $10 million for environmental RESEARCH a few days ago?
It’s hard to figure what goes on in his head. He’s so used to voting to spend trainloads of money, he can’t help himself. At the same time, he’s probably being harangued, behind the scenes by his handlers and the machine who put him where he is, for more money and programs, so he publicly speaks out on the enormous debt facing the state, like his hands are tied. This way, he can explain…I don’t know, go figure on this guy.