Nov 22, 2009 8:54 pm US/Eastern
Gov. Paterson Wants Lawmakers To Address Deficit
NEW YORK (AP) ―
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As another week passed without a deal to address New York's $3.2 billion deficit, Gov. David Paterson on Sunday told lawmakers they should put the people first, not powerful special interests.
Paterson sent a letter to all 212 lawmakers that the warnings to the state are clear if the Legislature doesn't act. He is holding out hope for cooperation in the coming days.
"We must put politics aside and put the people of our state first -- not the special interests," Paterson wrote to lawmakers. "We must reach a responsible final agreement that protects our state's finances and embodies the principles I have outlined above.
"The warnings are clear and those who choose to ignore them do so at their own peril," he said.
Paterson urged lawmakers to make the politically difficult decision to cut school aid and health care, which are protected by Albany's most powerful lobbyists. The Senate has refused to agree to disruptive midyear cuts in school aid, while the Assembly is trying to avoid it.
On Sunday, Paterson said school aid and health care must be cut.
Paterson's new strategy is to point to the deep cuts in these programs other states have to do now because they didn't agree to more modest cuts before.
"It is better to cut now, than gut later," he told lawmakers. He has said failure to act will hurt the state's credit rating, delay payments to schools, local governments and nonprofit groups, and force New York to consider the more extreme measures taken by about 10 other states in worse shape.
Last week, Paterson said he could require lawmakers to be in Albany during the Thanksgiving holiday, if it would hasten a deal that cuts spending and starts to save New York cash.
"We agree we must put politics aside and put the people of our State first and that is exactly what we are doing," shot back Senate Conference Leader John Sampson, a Brooklyn Democrat. "We believe there is a better way, and will work with you to close the gap so we can avoid the layoffs of state workers you have threatened, and deeper cuts in next year's budget. Send us a deficit reduction plan that protects taxpayers, schoolchildren, and working families, and we will pass it tomorrow."
Assembly Democratic majority spokesman Dan Weiller said only that conversations continue to address the deficit.
Paterson is the first African American governor of New York and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Governor of Arkansas for eleven days in January 1975.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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