Governor Cuomo Says New York Has A Spending Problem

Up to 9800 workers in New York state could see layoffs starting as soon as June 15th, 2011. Labor concessions are not yet finished, so the number could be less than that.

Governor Andrew Cuomo hopes to save the state $450 million with budget cuts. The proposed bill could increase the retirement age from 62 to 65, and also double employee contributions from 3% to 6% (theithicajournal.com).

During a speech back in February of 2011, Governor Cuomo stated that the state and local tax burden in New York is 66% above the U.S. average. Cuomo said that New York is the worst of all the U.S. states. “Because we spend so much we have to tax so much”, Cuomo commented (Cuomo speech). The high tax burden has caused many to flee from the state.

“The truth is, we spend a lot of money and we don’t get performance. We spend more money than any state in the nation in education. We’re number 34 in terms of performance. We’re number 1 in spending in Medicaid. We’re number 21 in performance. We spend $1.6 billion annually in economic development and we’re dead last.”

“Well why does this happen? We understand we’re spending too much, we’re not getting performance, it’s been going on too long. It’s a vicious cycle. Why? What you find is that the special interests really control what’s going on in the government. That is the heart of this problem.”

State Of New York Memorandum:

In the Division of the Budgets previous letter of May 11, 2011, which assigned personal cash ceilings for each agency, agencies were advised to immediately begin planning for workforce reductions, including layoffs, to achieve the personal service savings of $450 million reflected in the 2011-12 Enacted Budget. In consultation with the Dept. of Civil Service and the Division of Budget, agencies have begun taking the necessary steps to achieve the target of 9800 layoffs beginning July 15.