Liz Krueger's posts related to Budget

 The following is an opinion piece penned by Senator Liz Krueger for Huffington Post:

Albany and City Hall are engaged in a high-stakes game of chicken, and thousands of homeless families are trapped in the middle.

Every spring, as we debate the tough choices that inevitably must be made to balance our budget, we hear from thousands of New Yorkers, non-profits and mayors -- from cities big and small -- who warn of the consequences of cutting the State programs they rely on.

The following oped was published in today's Our Town.

By Liz Krueger

Even in the best of economic times, it’s never “easy” to balance the State’s budget. This year it was particularly difficult because our state government had less money and more debt, while the need for public services has only increased. This is not a problem unique to New York: 44 states are facing a combined budget deficit of over $112 billion this year, as the nation struggles to climb its way out of the recession.

By Azi Paybarah

If Andrew Cuomo makes adjustments to the state tax code that shift more of the burden from poor people to rich people without necessarily generating any more overall revenue for the cash-strapped government, is it truly progressive?

State Senator Liz Krueger, a liberal Democrat from Manhattan who wrote her master's thesis on tax policy while at the University of Chicago, thinks not.

"The state needs the money," Krueger told me Friday. "I think it's imperative we not cut services for the neediest New Yorkers when demands are skyrocketing."