‘Everything’ on table, comptroller says, as state budget gap widens
Nothing is sacred in the eyes of New York’s fiscal watchdog.
Not when you’re facing a three-year, $26 billion budget gap.
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli used a visit to Buffalo on Thursday to suggest that no service, program or operation is immune to the state’s budget knife.
“When you’re dealing with the daunting numbers we’re dealing with, everything has to be on the table,” he said at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
The numbers DiNapoli speaks of are huge, and getting even bigger.
Just last week, Gov. David A. Paterson announced that the state’s projected deficit for next year — originally pegged at $5 billion — has grown by $1.4 billion in 90 days.
DiNapoli thinks the governor’s sense of urgency — he wants to start cutting spending now, not later — is justified.
“The governor has sent out an important message, one that we all need to heed,” he said.
While legislative leaders have been slow to follow Paterson’s lead, DiNapoli said he expects that lawmakers eventually will come to the table.
“I think the Legislature recognizes something needs to be done,” he said. “I don’t want to assume the Legislature won’t be on board.”
DiNapoli’s strong support for Paterson came just days after a new poll showed that voters are behind him, as well.
The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted after Paterson’s statewide address, found 64 percent approval for Paterson’s performance, up from 56 percent in mid-June.
The governor’s disapproval rating is 14 percent, down from 17 percent two months ago.
DiNapoli was at Roswell Park to promote his campaign to return $9 billion in unclaimed funds to people in New York. Roswell Park received a check for $6,112 as part of his initiative.
People interested in learning whether they have unclaimed funds can do so online at www.osc.state.ny.us or by calling (800) 221-9311.
