Governor Paterson and the New York State Budget CrisisIn late November of last year, the Legislature concluded an Extraordinary Session convened by Go

In late November of last year, the Legislature concluded an Extraordinary Session convened by Governor Paterson to address New York State’s worsening fiscal crisis. According to the Governor, although historic reforms were achieved, which makes government more accountable to taxpayers, the Legislature failed to adequately address this crisis.One of the achievements was the most important reform to our State’s pension system in more than 25 years, creating a new “Tier 5” that will substantially reduce the cost of government for the long-term. Thanks to this legislation, New York finally has a rational pension system that provides a secure retirement for hardworking public employees, while controlling costs for property taxpayers.In addition, landmark reform of our State’s public authorities was enacted. Public authorities are critical to promoting economic development, but for too long they have operated without sufficient transparency. The new law provides the tools needed to root out any waste, fraud or abuse in the system and to reduce costs.The objective of these measures is simple: cuts costs and provide tax relief. Unfortunately, (according to the Governor), the deficit reduction plan passed by the Legislature does not fully address the current-year budget deficit, nor does it solve the severe cash-flow crunch, or address our long-term structural imbalance. If the Legislature will not do what is necessary, Governor Paterson claims, that he will continue to take the difficult actions that are needed to restore our State’s fiscal integrity. This (in my opinion) can only mean that more cuts are on the way.