Tagged: State budget

An on-time state budget is good news for school districts across the state, as they plug in the hard numbers to proposed budgets. 

Funding for a program to promote locally grown produce through a network of duty-free stores across New York has been axed from the final version of the state's budget.

It's known as the “three men in a room” style of decision making. For decades now, the governor and the two party's legislative leaders meet behind closed doors in the governor’s offices and decide key issues, like the contents of the state budget.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he is unlikely to send an emergency message that would allow state lawmakers to bypass a three-day waiting period for the state budget.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made several changes to his budget plan in what are called 30-day amendments. These amendments range from imposing a teacher evaluation plan on schools in New York City, to cutting the cost of hunting licenses.

Profits on Wall Street are going to be up this year, according to a new report from the New York state comptroller, but are still below their pre-recession highs. The report also finds fewer job losses in the securities industry, and many economic uncertainties ahead.

Top state officials say it is going to be another difficult year for the state budget. Governor Andrew Cuomo has already told state agencies to keep spending flat, and those that depend on state programs are not counting on big increases.

Former Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch has been called a Renaissance Man, and Mr. Fix-It.

He was intimately involved in the fiscal turnaround for New York City during the 1970s and 1980s, and in 2009 Governor Paterson named him as Lieutenant Governor in the hopes that he could improve the state’s budget process.

Now, he’s chairing Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s Municipal Financial Advisory Board, to advise the mayor on dealing with the city’s fiscal problems.

Governor Cuomo, in his first day on the job back on January 1st of this year, laid out his position on raising taxes pretty clearly.

“I say no new taxes, period,” Cuomo said on January 1.

The governor was answering a question from reporters, in his first media availability as governor, on whether he would support continuing the current surcharge on New Yorkers making $200,000 and up, which includes millionaires and multi-millionaires, when it expires December 31st.  Cuomo expanded on his view point during that session on January 1st.

Governor Cuomo’s budget office is released some bad news Monday. The state’s budget gap is even bigger than expected, with a $350 million dollar shortfall for the current year and a $3.5 billion dollar gap next year.