Governor submits emergency budget legislation

Bills ask lawmakers to vote on his plan or let him make cuts

BY PETE DAVIS

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 2:41 PM EST

Tired of failed negotiations and inaction on the part of the State Legislature, Governor David A. Paterson is asking the Legislature to take an up and down vote on his deficit reduction plan (DRP) or grant him a one-time executive option proposal to close the budget gap himself.

“If the Legislature is unwilling to make the necessary cuts, I will. If the Legislature is unwilling to do what needs to be done, I will. If the Legislature is unwilling to endure the criticism and the consequences, I will,” Paterson said during a brief address to New Yorkers that was streamed online Tuesday, November 24.

Paterson has called the legislators back to Albany multiple times in the past two months asking them to come to an agreement to plug a $3.2 billion hole in this year’s fiscal budget. Paterson has revealed his own DRP, which includes a $1.3 billion reduction in local assistance programs with $686 million in cuts to education and $471 million in cuts to health care – both of which legislative leaders have balked at repeatedly.

During his address, Paterson said that he understood many legislators were afraid of the political consequences they would face if they approved his cuts, but he said that political issues could not paralyze the future of the state. Paterson’s second piece of legislation asks the Legislature to give him a one-time authority to balance the current budget himself – sparing the legislators of having to vote on cuts.

“I say this to the legislators: this budget must be balanced,” Paterson said. “Please note the fate of so many other states that did not take this action. Cut this deficit with me or I will do it myself. The people of New York have waited too long. I stand willing and responsible to preserve the future of New York’s finances.”

However, many legislators, including members of his own party, have said Paterson’s proposal to make the cuts himself is not likely to happen.

“It’s hard to take them seriously,” said Queens Assemblymember Rory Lancman. “My comment after I heard his suggestion that the Legislature simply delegate its legislative responsibilities to him was ‘what’s next, martial law?’”

Lancman said the Assembly should know by the end of the day what, if anything, it plans to do. He said that the Assembly has been back in Albany three times now prepared to make serious cuts, but he hasn’t seen that commitment from everyone.

“Between the Governor and others, there seems to be a lot more posturing and a lot less negotiating,” Lancman said.

Meanwhile, head of the Senate Democratic Conference John Sampson and Republican Minority Leader Dean Skelos also did not express support for the Governor’s proposal and Sampson said there are still options on the table.

“We can prepare our own bill,” Sampson said. “We can do it with the speaker or we could amend the governor’s bill if we saw to go in that direction.”

Legislators in both houses were heading home on Tuesday while negotiations continued. They are expected back in Albany on Monday, November 30.

Photo Courtesy of Paterson's Office
Governor David Paterson announced on Tuesday, November 24, that he was submitting legislation asking the State Legislature to vote on his deficit reduction plan or allow him to make the cuts himself.

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Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of queenscourier.com.

Terry wrote on Nov 25, 2009 1:09 PM:

" Looks like Patterson is showing real leadership. If only he is taken seriously
it will be a good thing for the state to be in better financial status. "

NY Citizen wrote on Nov 30, 2009 1:08 AM:

" Good comment. "

Steve Poulson wrote on Nov 30, 2009 1:12 AM:

" 'Dubai World's', effect on the New York State Budget.

The Dubai World debacle is sending an early signal of the upcoming potential disaster we will be facing soon, starting in 2010, with over a Trillion Dollars of commercial real estate loans coming due.

Companies exposed to commercial real-estate could very well be in serious trouble next year.

This is especially the case here in New York, one of the largest commercial real-estate markets in the World.

How does this affect the NY State Budget in the immediate future?

Governor Paterson has announced that the State Budget will receive $345 million in 2009 and 2010 from the Aqueduct VLT facility due to be built at Aqueduct Racetrack.

A little history lesson:

The State approved VLT’s (slots which are likely to lead to a full casino one day) at Aqueduct Racetrack over 8 years ago, shortly after the 911 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Originally the hapless (and some say incompetent) NYRA was in partnership with MGM.
NYRA claimed it owned the land on which Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct sit, which many disputed, including Spitzer when he was running for Governor.

NYRA then went into bankruptcy and in a somewhat shady deal, it got a new 25 year deal from the State to continue to run thoroughbred racing in New York.

However, the State subsequently put out a new bidding process for the lucrative VLT facility at Aqueduct.

Governor Paterson and Speaker Silver chose Delaware North for the VLT franchise in October 2008, just ahead of the 2008 election.

Senator Skelos, then Senate Leader, subsequently went along with this decision.

Nearly six months later, when Delaware North failed to come up with the $370 million it promised as a franchise fee, the State announced a new bidding process in April this year.

Six bidders entered the fray: MGM and Delaware North again as well as Steve Wynn, SL Green (with the Seminole Indians of Florida), Penn National and Aqueduct Entertainment Group.

The bidding process has been a bit of a shambles, to say the least, so Steve Wynn recently pulled out, some say because he was frustrated with the flip flopping of the State in its decision process.

Recent articles have SL Green, Delaware North and Aqueduct Entertainment Group, as the three favorites with Governor Paterson leaning to SL Green.

So, does the Dubai World debacle now make our State Leaders take another look at SL Green which is one of the largest REIT's in the New York commercial real-estate market and could be in serious financial trouble this time next year, if not before.

While MGM does not appear to be in the top 3 bidders (if recent newspaper articles are correct), its partnership with Dubai World in Vegas (a reputed $10 billion transaction) will now surely kill it off completely.

The State needs to ensure that it chooses a VLT operator that will get the job done, not to mention pay the money the operator will promise to the State.
Surely Governor Paterson (not to mention Speaker Silver and Senator Malcolm Smith or Senator Sampson) cannot risk choosing another failure for the VLT franchise at Aqueduct.

Governor Paterson, maybe the Gods are smiling on this Aqueduct VLT decision, because an early pick of SL Green or MGM, could have been a disaster when you need to show ‘runs on the board’ for your re-election in 2010.

Signed ; Very Concerned Citizens. "