A 20th anniversary is usually a cause for celebration. But when it comes to New York State's budget process, I think we can all agree that 20 years of late state budgets is more of a cause for condemnation. Earlier in the year, I believed we had a real opportunity to break this two-decades-long record of dysfunctional government. Although various aspects of the Governor's proposed 2004-2005 spending plan were immediately met with criticism in January -- including his cuts to health care and higher education, his desire to permanently reinstate the state sales tax on clothing and shoes, and his woefully inadequate plans for funding public schools -- this plan did not seem to stir the same level of opposition from legislators and the public as past Executive Budgets. However, the major sticking point in this year's negotiations center around something of tremendous importance to all of us: the need to make sure that New York City school children are provided with the resources they need to receive the "sound, basic education" they are guaranteed under the State Constitution. In last year's landmark State Court of Appeals decision in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) lawsuit, the Legislature and Governor were ordered to come up with a plan by July 30th of this year to overhaul the State's inequitable school aid formulas -- which now provide $14 billion in public school funding statewide -- to make sure that our children receive their fair share. While at least three groups, in addition to Mayor Bloomberg, have since presented multi-year, multi-billion dollar proposals for addressing the CFE decision, no agreements have yet been reached. Like all of you, I am deeply disappointed by this lack of progress. I will add, however, that the Senate Democratic Conference, of which I am a member, has stepped up to the plate to propose an alternative to the Governor's budget plan. Our budget doesn't spend any more than the Governor's proposal, but makes significant investments in education aid, school construction, day care, and library projects; restores the Governor's cuts to Medicaid; increases funding for New York City transit; aids small businesses; and seeks to launch a new capital construction program to expand affordable housing. At a time when the State is still facing a budget deficit of around $5 billion, we also recommend ways to help pay for these programs. We suggest expanding New York State's "bottle bill," which will help to provide a cleaner environment while raising new funds for public programs; postponing the Governor's proposed income tax cut for wealthier New Yorkers; and closing a number of corporate loopholes that enable some companies to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. This latter point should be of particular interest following a recent Congressional General Accounting Office report showing that more than 60 percent of American corporations didn't pay any income taxes between 1996 and 2000. I am hopeful that at least some of our priorities will be included in the final State Budget, and that serious attempts to put a 2004-2005 spending plan into place will soon kick into high gear. With only about two months left in the "official" 2004 legislative session, there is no time to waste, particularly since there are so many other important issues -- including a minimum wage increase, improved mental health insurance coverage, renewing and improving New York State's power plant siting law, and workers' compensation reform -- that are all deeply deserving of action this year.
| STATEMENT BY SENATOR GEORGE ONORATO