Nobody enjoys Tuesdays – they're the ultimate 'Jan Brady' day. To make it worse, New Yorkers got a gift from Governor David Paterson when he announced yet another plan to fight New York's pressing deficit issue.
Honestly, residents statewide are just tired of hearing about the problems with the budget. Yes, it's bad, but the situation has been talked to death.
Try doing something that will actually work for once.
New York is looking at a deficit of 7.4 billion dollars for the next fiscal year, so the governor has taken out the treasure map and begun searching for new revenue streams.
Here's what the 'geniuses' in Albany have come up with: legalize Ultimate Fighting, allow the sale of wine in grocery stores and tax cigarette sales on Indian Reservations.
It would be even worse if it came from the income taxes of the hardworking citizens of New York, because the earlier plans involving utility taxes were just uncalled for. But there is a part of this budget that'll come as a bit of a shock.
Paterson is going after school aid. Yes, that's right – school aid. The plan calls for a cut of 5 percent in a state that spends the most on funding education. New York ranks 6th in overall spending and 3rd in elementary and secondary spending.
Under the plan, wealthier school districts would bear the larger portion of the cuts – a strategy that has long been fought by the state Senate, especially by senators from Long Island.
Now, before the state gets up in arms over this, there needs to be more examination of this. For example, Eric Hanushek, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford with a Ph.D. from MIT in economics and an expert in educational policy, has found that there's no correlation between students doing better on standardized tests and increased funding for schools.
So maybe, just maybe, the governor isn't mortgaging the children's futures with the tax plan. No one actually condones cutting education expenses, but if the debt crisis is that bad for New York, then the residents need to give it a shot.
The plan in its entirety banks on the premise that a strapping economic recovery will take place in the state tax revenues and that a host of other proposals that haven't passed before will pass, such as a soda tax which charges $1.28 per gallon of bottled soft drinks.
There are some cuts planned, such as slowing the growth of spending on Medicaid, reducing $1 billion from spending on state agencies and eliminating $300 million in annual aid to New York City.
The governor's budget would also introduce fees to a state program that provides early intervention services for about 74,000 special-needs children. Families would be charged on a moveable scale, with fees starting at $180 a year for those with a household income of at least $55,126 and topping out at $2,160 a year for those earning at least $198,451 annually. At least 11 other states already charge such fees, including New Jersey and Connecticut.
The exact numbers and where the money is coming from are almost irrelevant at this point. New York lacks a governor and legislature that can actually deal with problems in a swift, concise manner.
If the plan is logical and effective, it shouldn't have come this late.
Budget roulette
Paterson unveils new plan to combat budget crisis
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