Special-interest groups lobby against cuts
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- November
- 9
  As the Legislature prepares to meet in special session on budget cuts tomorrow, the halls of the Capitol and Legislative Office Building are busy with lobbyists and special-interest groups protesting proposed cuts in education, mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and other areas.
  New York State United Teachers, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, the Alliance for Quality Education and Citizen Action, along with parents and community members rallied against proposed education cuts totaling $686 million in the current budget year. They all broke pencils in unison to symbolize a broken promise and delivered them to Gov. David Paterson and legislators.
  “Taking more than a billion dollars out of schools, colleges and other vital health programs would create chaos and suffering,” NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi said in a statement. “It would put an unnecessary burden on local property taxpayers and hamper New York’s economic recovery by forcing the elimination of jobs—jobs vital to the economies of many local communities.”
  “School district leaders worked hard this year to protect services for schoolchildren while minimizing local tax increases. Despite the weakest state aid in six years, we had the lowest average school tax increase in seven years,” said Robert Lowry, deputy director of the state Council of School Superintendents, said in a statement.Â
  The groups urged lawmakers to accept $1.225 billion in cuts proposed by the governor excluding school aid and other local assistance and state operations cuts. The state should use its rainy-day funds to provide up to $1.2 billion to help close the gap; purchase prescription drugs in bulk; eliminate the Empire Zone program; and refinance state debt, according to the groups.
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on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 1:36 pm by Cara Matthews.
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