Published: September 05, 2008 03:23 pm            

GUEST EDITORIAL: Budget cuts a step in right direction

We know it’s only half of a percent of the budget.

But don’t discourage them. They’re trying.

In this economy, and with this state Legislature, any move that’s not backward is a positive development for state taxpayers.

It would be easy to criticize the governor and the state Legislature for their overblown “special session” to cut the state’s $120 billion budget by $630 million.

What they set out to accomplish is a relatively small feat when you look at the big picture. Most managers of private companies would be falling all over themselves with glee if the corporate executives told them they only had to cut half a percent of their budget.

That’s expenses, not personnel.

They didn’t really make much of a dent in the deficit and state spending, and the things they did cut were not the kind of painful cuts that will have to be made before the state can turn its financial fortunes around.

But a number of positive developments came out of the budget discussion, spurred on by a rightly panicked Gov. David Paterson over the state of New York’s economy.

For starters, there wasn’t much expectation that they’d accomplish anything during the special session. History has demonstrated that whenever the Legislature is shamed into coming back into session to do something the governor wants, lawmakers fold their arms and hold their breath like petulant children. And given that this year is an election year, in which the majority of the Senate is a vote or two away from shifting to another party, one would expect that the last thing lawmakers would do is cut things.

But somehow, the three players in the matter — the governor, the Senate leadership and the Assembly leadership — managed to agree to more than $1 billion in budget cuts over two years without digging into education, hospitals or local government budgets. And they did so by almost unanimous votes — 51-7 in the Senate and 131-7 in the Assembly.

Among the cuts was a $50 million reduction in pork-barrel spending, $40 million from a wireless project, $500 million in savings and premium reductions over two years in Medicaid and health care costs and a 6 percent cut in local assistance. In addition, the governor has already cut state agency spending under his control by $500 million, and is demanding another $630 million in cuts.

At this stage of the year and with the elections looming, that’s quite an accomplishment.

Another positive development is the way the Legislature and governor responded to major threats by big unions to withdraw support for candidates that cut the budget. Normally, your senators and Assembly members fold to even the hint of union pressure like a cheap card table — especially in an election year. But this year, the unions representing state workers and teachers, put on expensive, full-court presses to get the Legislature to leave spending the way it is. They didn’t cave like one would expect them to. That itself is a significant step forward.

To get back to our original point, this is only a baby step toward solving the state’s fiscal problems. For beginners, they didn’t really cut, by most people’s definition of cut. They cut items, but they didn’t cut spending. Overall spending will still increase, just not as much as it did the year before. It’s kind of like eating a regular hamburger instead of Big Mac. But again, it’s a step in the right direction.

They also did address fundamental problems with the state finances that contribute to the state’s high spending, such as Medicaid programs, education mandates, high taxes and declining revenue. They also didn’t impose a tax cap that would help limit the amount of increases in local school property taxes.

So we offer tepid applause for the governor and the Legislature for doing something to rein in the state budget.

But it’s not enough. Not by a long shot.

Much more work, and much more pain, needs to come.

— The Post-Star of Glens Falls

        

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