Issues: Finance

  In short order I will join my colleagues in state government and return to Albany for a special legislative session.  The agenda, most likely, will be limited to a few housekeeping matters and one extremely difficult bookkeeping task – how to close a $2.1 billion dollar budget gap.

 There are no simple answers to this complex financial problem and a brief special session is merely providing a band-aid to a gushing wound.  Sound, fundamental policy shifts are needed if we are going to stem the bleeding and make a long term recovery.

I am very unhappy to report that Governor Paterson has secret plans to spend $140 million of federal stimulus money to give $200 per child “back to school” grants to welfare and food stamp recipients. The new welfare give-away reportedly was detailed in a secret memo from the Office of Temporary Disability Assistance.

            The New York State Division of the Budget recently released its first quarter update to the state financial plan.  The update includes revised information on state revenues, spending and other financial indicators.  Unfortunately, the report did not include a rainbow and a pot of gold.