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Public
Employee Press State
budget closes $4B gap In his proposed budget for the
year beginning April 1, Gov. Eliot Spitzer would close a $4.4 billion gap by raising
an array of fees and taxes, slowing property tax relief and holding down projected
increases in health-care and education spending.
The budget, which Spitzer
unveiled Jan. 22, would raise spending by 5 percent and increase the state workforce
by 1 percent, to nearly 200,000 employees.
While the proposal increases
education aid by $1.45 billion, New York City schools would get $100 million less
in operating assistance than anticipated.
Last year, Spitzer pledged to
increase school spending by over $7 billion in the next four years, with much
of that going to New York City. The dramatic increase in school spending came
after a group that said the state school aid formula short-changed the city won
a 13-year court battle. Spitzer indicated that the economic slowdown is forcing
him to cut the increase in school funds.
Besides the loss in educational
assistance, the city will also receive $20 million less than anticipated for juvenile
detention facilities and $30 million less for public assistance.
The governor
has been touting a plan to use lottery income to establish a $4 billion endowment
for the State University of New York and the City University of New York. Yet
his executive budget would cut SUNY by $34.2 million and CUNY by $16.7 million.
The
budget calls for $980 million in health-care savings, such as changing the method
for state drug purchases andadditional taxes on health maintenance organizations.
Cutbacks
that helped the governor to close the budget include halving the projected $328
million in revenue sharing for the city, reducing property tax relief by $354
million, closing corporate tax loopholes by $435 million and increasing fees by
$305 million.
DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts said, We are
monitoring the state budget closely to make sure that any shortfalls do not negatively
impact the men and women of this union who provide essential services.
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