ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. David Paterson said Wednesday that New York has run out of cash and he's directing budget officials to reduce state aid payments to schools, local governments and nonprofit service providers until things improve.
Speaking at the Museum of American Finance in Manhattan, Paterson said he'll probably get sued, but he won't let the state run out of money on his watch.
"I am directing the Division of the Budget to limit payments so that we will have the cash to pay our debts at the end of December," Paterson said. "I will continue to withhold payments until this economy is leveled off."
"Now New York has run out of cash," he said. "You can't spend money that you don't have."
Budget Director Robert Megna said the state faces a shortfall of more than $1 billion in the general fund at the end of December, which would be a first for New York.
Other state funds can be tapped to help close that gap, Megna said, but even using all $1.2 billion of rainy day reserves and delaying a pension fund payment will leave the margin "razor thin."
Rather than risking some setback that would force hasty cuts, Megna said the administration is cutting spending in an orderly fashion. The Budget Division plans to detail temporary cuts this week, he said.
In his executive budget proposal next year, Paterson could propose making them permanent.
"We've had a revenue collapse over the last 24 to 36 month period," Megna said. "The state's cash position is at its weakest point in recent history."
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NY foreclosures up 70%
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Thousands of Employees Will Not Get Paid
Southern Illinois University, which is one of the region's largest employers.
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Hmm1? I though Wall Street was in New York. I must have been wrong. Otherwise the governor could have taxed the Goldman Sacses of Wall Street who has just declared the record high quarterly profits. I must have been wrong again. Hmm.
ReplyDeletei've never heard of eating shit! i've just been eating my neighbor. :O)
ReplyDeleteCalifornia is also broke.
ReplyDeleteThe spoiled rotten state employees are whining about the 2 days off a month without pay. They continue to get paid every two weeks. They still have health insurance and a retirement fund.
Meanwhile all of us non-state employees get ass-raped. Record high unemployment. No health insurance, no retirement plan, no nothing.
1.5 years ago, my employer showed me the door. They didn't even to ask if I would be willing to take a pay cut to stay on, and I would have done just that.
It's just no fun anymore.
@8:06 AM
ReplyDeleteSorry buddy. But we are all paying for our ignorance. Even people in over countries, probably more so, paying for our ignorance, because when they go bankrupt our so called "advisers" come in and explain how they should cut on health care, pension funds, etc. But when it happened here (in fact, it did not happen, it was prepared), we started printing money and gave it a fancy name-"quantitative easing". In plain English it is called day light robbery of those from whom we borrowed money. And we wonder why people around the world hate America. We take their money and give it to our military to invade them. What a perverted world we live in!
The proper way to be a cannibal is to pickle your meal. That is how it was done in the 20s and 30s in Russia.
ReplyDeleteNYC expended a lot of effort to rid themselves of the homeless over the last 10+ years. Now they'll come back with a vengence and this time they'll be middle and upper class too.
ReplyDeleteNo, they will just tax them.
ReplyDelete