Budget, the height of irresponsibility, shows need for real leaders in Albany

Asked last fall whether he would raise business or income taxes, Gov. David A. Paterson  had this to say: "We have ruled that out, myself and all of the leaders of the legislature, for the period this year and the budget process next year. What we want to do is cut our out-of-control spending."

It is with a sense of betrayal, then, that we regard this year's budget of $131.8 billion, an 8 percent increase that imposes $7 billion in new taxes and fees. This editorial page cheered the governor many times for his commitment to reduce spending to match revenue - reversing a years-long trend in Albany of borrowing to overspend. We believed him, and we were wrong.

Instead of preparing the state to thrive once the recession lifts, Paterson and the other Albany leaders - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Majority Leader Malcolm Smith - badly fumbled this opportunity. They ignored that the Wall Street engine will not likely return to its former revenue-generating status. The three leaders - do they deserve the title? - are predicting that the hole blown in state revenue by the national economic crisis will grow another $3 billion to $4 billion by year's end, yet this budget does nothing to prepare for it. Indeed, we wonder if it can be legally certified, given the requirement that New York's budget be balanced.

Specifically, Albany did nothing to reform schools, one of the two biggest spending items. And in health care, the other, leaders missed the opportunity to use the federal stimulus money to create an adequate cushion for Medicaid reforms.

The spending has exposed Silver, whose vast majority in the Assembly makes him unaccountable at the ballot box, as a big-budgeter friend of public-employee unions. The speaker took advantage of Smith's inexperience and Paterson's ineptitude. He has truly established himself as the King of New York.

Long Island's two Democratic senators, Craig Johnson of Port Washington and Brian Foley of Blue Point, have an opportunity here to be the real leaders by halting this budget. In their chamber, one vote does mean something, and they should use theirs to stand up for responsible government. Voters will hold them accountable for their decisions on this fraudulent plan.

Some of the spending increases are beyond unconscionable, given the state of the economy. Examples include:

Member items, at a cost of $170 million, serve as payoffs politicians use to boost their popularity. The money will go to many groups that have nothing to do with social-service spending, where Paterson says it's aimed: the Greater Long Island Running Club, the Pat-Med Youth Football and Cheerleading Club, the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum.

New taxes on vehicles, just as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has voted to jack up bus and train fares by at least 25 percent and cut services. This budget imposes motor vehicle registration fee hikes, surcharges on auto insurance policies and increases in driver's license fees.

Regressive increases on utilities ($557 million), health-maintenance organizations ($107 million) and health insurance companies ($5 million). These will be passed along to consumers - regardless of their ability to pay - in higher utility bills and costlier health care.

Paterson has talked for many months about Depression-era hardships. But when the time came to make good on his word, he couldn't do it. Governing now requires far more steel than that.

—Newsday, April 1, 2009