Gov. Cuomo's Tough 2011-12 State Budget Drops Hammer On NYC
ALBANY (CBS 2/WCBS 880) -- Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing a new budget so painful that even he admitted it would "inflame the Albany establishment."
But it also seemed to inflame New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. On Tuesday Hizzoner said the cuts to New York City are a whole lot worse than the governor's numbers would indicate, reports CBS 2's Marcia Kramer.
With the State of New York $10 billion in the red, the only good news in Gov. Cuomo's new budget is that there are no new taxes. But he took his budget ax to almost every other program and challenged the Legislature not to give in to the unions and lobbyists who prefer new fees and tax hikes to tightening their belts.
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WCBS 880 Reporter Peter Haskell reports on the deepest cuts proposed in the state budget.
"This is going to inflame the Albany establishment. The lobbyists are going to be running around the hallways like their hair is on fire," Cuomo said.
With steep cuts to education and Medicaid, a possible 9,800 worker layoff, the need to close prisons and even $100 million slashed from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the governor told lawmakers there were two critical things they needed to do -- pass an on-time budget and enact ethics reform.
"You pass ethics reform. Why? To restore your credibility and restore your integrity and say to the people of this state they can trust this body called the Legislature once again," Cuomo said.
But a food fight broke out between Cuomo and Mayor Bloomberg over just how much pain the state is inflicting on the city.
Cuomo said the city is losing nearly $660 million in state aid. Hogwash said Bloomberg. It's really $2 billion in state funded services to city residents, including a whopping $1.4 billion in school cuts.
The mayor also charged that the city is being hit harder than anyplace else in the state.
"The budget does not treat New York City equitably," Bloomberg said. "It eliminates 100 percent of New York City's revenue sharing aid -- more than $300 million -- while cutting other localities by just 2 percent. The residents of our five counties pay a disproportionate amount of state taxes, and they deserve the same level of support."
Most of the governor's critics called on him to avert some of the cuts by continuing the so-called millionaire's tax that adds a surcharge on anyone making over $200,000-a-year. It's supposed to sunset on Dec. 31.
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