NY governor tries to rally support for deficit reduction plan
NY governor tries to rally support for deficit reduction plan
13:34, November 10, 2009 
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New York Governor David Paterson on Monday urged the state legislature to enact his deficit reduction plan to stop New York's downward economic spiral.
"Frankly, we're running out of money," Paterson said while addressing a joint session of the Assembly and Senate in Albany, capital city of New York state.
Paterson repeated his plan to close this year's 3.2 billion dollars deficit and make a down payment of 2 billion dollars on next year's 6.8 billion dollars gap with a program he proposed on Oct. 15.
While acknowledging that budget cuts will be difficult on everyone, the governor insisted on calling for 1.2 billion dollars of one-time revenue measures, including reducing some penalties on unpaid taxes, and 3.8 billion dollars of spending reductions over two years.
The governor said these estimations were "not exaggerations," a claim made by some lawmakers.
"If we make the tough decisions now, we can return to our investments in education and health care for all of New Yorkers," Paterson said during the roughly 15-minute speech.
"We must not risk the future of our children and our children's children borrowing money we don't have," he said.
The state's fiscal leaders met this morning to discuss the severity of the situation.
"It is clear New York will continue to remain mired in one of the worst economic downturns in its history for a prolonged period of time," said New York State Budget Director Robert Megna.
Observers said that it did not appear at this point that legislators would actually bring the governor's proposed spending cuts to a vote Tuesday. Both sides have been stuck on Paterson's proposal to cut health care and education funds.
Paterson repeatedly used stark language to describe the gravity of the state's economic health. "I will mortgage my political career on this plan," Paterson told lawmakers as he warned that New York was rapidly running out of cash to meet its obligations.
Paterson admitted that he knew his political career might hinge on the success of this proposal.
Paterson's popularity is near record-low levels, with a 27-percent favorable rating and 61 percent unfavorable, according to a Siena Research Institute poll last month with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Paterson is the first African-American governor of New York and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state.
Following former New York governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation in the wake of a prostitution scandal, Paterson was sworn in as governor in March 2008. Paterson will run for governor of New York in 2010.
Source: Xinhua
"Frankly, we're running out of money," Paterson said while addressing a joint session of the Assembly and Senate in Albany, capital city of New York state.
Paterson repeated his plan to close this year's 3.2 billion dollars deficit and make a down payment of 2 billion dollars on next year's 6.8 billion dollars gap with a program he proposed on Oct. 15.
While acknowledging that budget cuts will be difficult on everyone, the governor insisted on calling for 1.2 billion dollars of one-time revenue measures, including reducing some penalties on unpaid taxes, and 3.8 billion dollars of spending reductions over two years.
The governor said these estimations were "not exaggerations," a claim made by some lawmakers.
"If we make the tough decisions now, we can return to our investments in education and health care for all of New Yorkers," Paterson said during the roughly 15-minute speech.
"We must not risk the future of our children and our children's children borrowing money we don't have," he said.
The state's fiscal leaders met this morning to discuss the severity of the situation.
"It is clear New York will continue to remain mired in one of the worst economic downturns in its history for a prolonged period of time," said New York State Budget Director Robert Megna.
Observers said that it did not appear at this point that legislators would actually bring the governor's proposed spending cuts to a vote Tuesday. Both sides have been stuck on Paterson's proposal to cut health care and education funds.
Paterson repeatedly used stark language to describe the gravity of the state's economic health. "I will mortgage my political career on this plan," Paterson told lawmakers as he warned that New York was rapidly running out of cash to meet its obligations.
Paterson admitted that he knew his political career might hinge on the success of this proposal.
Paterson's popularity is near record-low levels, with a 27-percent favorable rating and 61 percent unfavorable, according to a Siena Research Institute poll last month with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Paterson is the first African-American governor of New York and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state.
Following former New York governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation in the wake of a prostitution scandal, Paterson was sworn in as governor in March 2008. Paterson will run for governor of New York in 2010.
Source: Xinhua
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