Paterson to state agency heads: hold spending flat
-
- September
- 5
ÂÂ State agencies should spend no more next year than they are this year, Gov. Paterson told agency heads in a letter sent today.
“We cannot continue making excuses for why the state is unwilling to limit its expenses at a time when hard working New Yorkers are forced to do the same thing every day,’’ he said.
Holding spending flat will be particularly tricky, since most state workers this year have been granted four-year pay raises totaling 13 percent.
The “call letter’’ to agency heads is the first step in the process of putting together a budget for the next fiscal year, which starts April 1.
Lawmakers, who haven’t had a pay raise in a decade, are widely expected to vote to raise their pay, as well as judges and top state officials, including Paterson, some time after the November 4 elections and before the end of the year. The hikes would take effect in January.
But Paterson’s no-growth edict would not only make it virtually politically impossible for him to accept a raise from his $179,000-a-year salary next year, but also put more pressure on lawmakers to leave their base pay at $79,500 annually. (Most get extra stipends that puts the average pay at more than $90,000.)
This entry was posted
on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 5:07 pm by Jay Gallagher.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
| 
Email This
Although I do agree with cutting spending and excess, I do not agree with the targeted areas. I work for NYS in the medical profession. At work and at home my co-workers, children and I have accepted working harder due to numbers, coping with less extras and living more modestly. I would challenge the politcians and judges to set an example—(We workers were forced/told to do so.) When the time comes to vote yourselves a pay raise, teach young adults and children by your example that “we” adults share responsibility and sacrifice.