What a difference a year makes! Last year’s State of the State address was around this time. Now, a new governor and I am watching the executive budget presentation on February 1st. Better than that, the entire event – comments by Lieutenant Governor Duffy and Budget Director Megna and the presentation itself from Governor Andrew Cuomo – took less than one hour. I am in awe of both Cuomo’s ability to tell people what they do not want to hear – budget cuts – and his ability to do it succinctly.
The big hits in the 2011-12 executive budget go to education funding, state government operations, and Medicaid. Do I think that all these areas need cuts? I am not sure but I do know that NYS cannot continue to spend as if its tax revenues were still the same as in the heyday of Wall Street. NYS does not have the tax revenue to continue life as usual. On top of not have income tax revenue, NYS is losing population due to property taxes. So cuts must be made.
Will the “new attitude” in the Capitol filter down to the state legislature? I hope so. It would be nice to see cuts in the budget. All current legislators should realize that everyone is taking a cut in this budget. State operating costs are being cut approximately 10% while other cuts, such as the one to public education , are in the range of 2-3%. These elected officials should also realize that those of us who elected them may not put up with much more. I cannot continue to support lawmakers who make laws that encourage deficit spending. If I cannot live that way, the state I live in should not be allowed to do so.
I will withhold judgement as I am still unsure how all these cuts will effect those I work with and those I represent. As a school board member, having the governor’s budget this early is good. Having Governor Cuomo plead with legislators to pass this budget on time is a good thing to know. It is going to be a tough budgeting year for school districts. Those with reserves will fair better than those without such. Many changes will need to be looked at and implemented. I hope that everyone realizes that change is hard – as the governor said many times – but change is necessary in NYS.
Nicki's Nook 
I’m from upstate NY (same city as Duffy!) but now live in NJ. NJ went through serious budget cuts last year; seems like a lot of states are going through this this year. I think one of the biggest things affected by budget cuts here last year was education. State funding was cut from all school districts – up to 5% of each school’s entire budget.
I work in a school – This was most of my district’s state funding, as about 94% of it was funded by the township property taxes. My district was already pretty efficient, but we still had to cut things like the K-6 foreign language program, many full time instructional assistant positions were reduced to part-time positions to save on the cost of benefits. Admin took a 1 year pay freeze. Some teacher positions were eliminated and class sizes were increased. The BOE also imposed 3 furlough days on the teacher’s union (9 months later this is still being fought in court by the union…).
I’m curious to see how things work out for NY this year as my parents still live there as well as several friends who work in schools.
Education will definitely take a hit. I feel for those young teachers who will lose their jobs as the law is last in, first out.
In the area I am in, a district released what 41 positions they will cut this year to get a budget they think will pass the vote in May. This is a district about the same size as the one I live in.
Another district that is larger has had articles in the local paper for months now as they contemplate totally cutting out modified (7th & 8th grade) sports. Reasoning is that the athletic department did not take a cut last year when everyone else did so they have to take a larger cut this year.
These are the public battles. As a school board member, I know these are not the only battles going on. The district I am in has not filled retirements in the last two year, leaving 23 positions vacant. So far programs have not had to be cut. Not sure that will be the same this year.