Governor Paterson – Text of email sent to supporters about the NYS Budget

My Fellow New Yorkers:

I believe that elected officials have a simple duty to the people we serve; we must be honest with you, and we must work in your best interest. We are first and foremost public servants, even if the decisions we make can at times be difficult and unpopular. But I can assure you, every decision I have made since becoming governor has been about putting our State on the path to recovery and doing what’s right for New Yorkers.

In January, I called for our State to enter a new era of accountability. For too many years we recklessly fed our addiction to spending, and we jeopardized an entire generation’s chance at prosperity. So when I proposed a recovery budget that balances significant spending reductions with necessary revenue increases to help close our massive deficit — which has since grown to more than $9 billion this year, and $60 billion over the next four years – it was a decision I did not make lightly. This was a budget of necessity, not of choice.

In the three months since I put my plan before New Yorkers, the Legislature has worked with me to try and reach an agreement on a responsible budget that corrects the mistakes of the past. However, thus far my colleagues have been unable to agree to the recurring spending cuts that we need. They have also rejected the vast majority of my necessary revenue proposals. The levies I have put forward to discourage the use of unhealthy cigarettes and sugared beverages are smart, targeted public policy measures meant to not only help close our budget deficit, but also make New York a healthier state. More than two weeks past the statutory budget deadline, the Senate and Assembly plans are still billions short of what is necessary.

Making substantial and recurring spending reductions is the first and most important step in restoring fiscal sanity to our budget process and closing our deficit. But over the past two months, too much of the conversation in Albany has centered on borrowing to balance our budget and satiate the desire to spend more money. Some lawmakers are even talking about borrowing money, only so they can turn around and give it away as a tax rebate. This is an unequivocally terrible idea. While everyone supports the goal of property tax relief, we simply cannot create a property tax relief program by spending money we do not have.

With so few options, the decisions facing New York’s legislators are exceptionally difficult. I understand that. That is precisely why these difficult times call for elected officials to be honest with the public about the problems our State is facing. It was the inability to make tough decisions in the past that brought us here today.

I am ready to make the difficult decisions necessary to protect New York’s fiscal health. In the past six months, I have taken extraordinary action on three separate occasions to prevent the State from running out of cash. Last month I was forced to delay a $2.1 billion payment to school districts in order to keep our State fiscally secure. I also had to withhold state tax refunds, and delay funding for construction projects and non-profits. Now I have submitted another round of bare-bones emergency spending measures, this time delaying a scheduled 4% pay raise to our public employees. I know that these measures may be painful – but I am serious when I say that all New Yorkers must share in this sacrifice.

I will not accept a budget that continues the same tired fiscal tricks of the past. I will not accept a budget that shields the special interests. And I will not accept a budget that allows New York to slip into an economic coma from which it could take a generation to wake-up. Instead, I will keep fighting to restore fiscal sanity, no matter how late the budget is and now matter how many times I am threatened with frivolous lawsuits.

New Yorkers have a great history of overcoming adversity, and now, we must meet another historic challenge. I am confident that we will succeed. I am certain that we cannot fail. And working together, I know that we can build a new foundation for New York’s fiscal future.

Best,

David A. Paterson

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