NYS: $36 million by the end of December
With a $130 billion dollar state budget annually, $36 million is the rough equivalent of "on our last dime."
It's the fly buzzing out of the empty wallet, the wooden nickel, the last thing between us and the poorhouse.
It's also what will be left at the end of December. In simple terms, the collective "we" are broke.
The legislature has declined to act on Governor David Paterson's austerity measures -- with some lawmakers mocking him as "macho man."
But for the North Country, the consequences of doing nothing are pretty dire.
This from the New York Times:
It will be painful watching all those folks try to divvy up $36 million. Are California-style I.O.U.s in our future?If New York does in fact run out of cash, it will have to delay paying some of its biggest bills.
Chief among the bills the state will face in December are $1.6 billion in aid the state is supposed to pay school districts, $2.5 billion in property tax relief to individual homeowners, and $500 million in general aid meant to go to local governments.
“If you put any of that off, at some point people are not getting the money they are expecting,” said the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, a Democrat. “That could affect local governments, school districts, nonprofits, hospitals.”
Read the full article here.
posted by Brian Mann @ 11/28/2009 02:22:00 PM
29 Comments
29 Comments:
Was this trip just personal or for a news piece on how people in the area are going to have to cross the state border in the next few years until a new bridge is built?
At last, I have a new/used computer, so fear not, the right wing nut job has returned!
36 million. That's not very darn much money to keep all the political fires burning. Better face it folks, we're in trouble- deep trouble, and raising taxes won't fix it. Time to tighten the belts boys and girls, things are gonna get a little ugly before long.
And if revenue continues to plummet than that 36 million will also be gone.
I'm a Democrat but it's increasingly clear to me that the Senate Democrats should all be thrown out of office. They refuse to acknowledge there is a problem even though the state is crumbling.
THROW THEM ALL OUT.
Does anyone have a clue as to what the legislature waiting for? Their inaction is puzzling. It would seem that their fear of not being reelected would over-ride their ties to the unions and special interests at some point.
Do we really have the option of doing nothing? When it gets to the point that "bills aren't being paid", I'll bet that they wouldn't accept missing a paycheck.
Macomb
I'm not sure anyone in the Legislature cares. I recall a decade or 2 back when all the State employees were lagged a week. That idea will surface soon. And they held our paychecks up for a few days once, that'll happen too.
I doubt they care at all to be honest, and thats why we should be voting them out of office. If you care better make some phone calls 'cus Addie Russell can't be bothered to reply to an email, Aubertine usually doens't bother either.
Don't worry.
NYS has a new license plate bake sale coming this Spring, to raise a few bucks.
The State's coffers suffered badly when Wall Street turned into "Cannery Row."
All of the tax revenue earned from Wall St., and that was counted on as being always there, by the Albany folks, ain't there anymore.
As Bret4207 and others have suggested, time to tighten the belt, readjust, and lose weight.
And that work will require all of the "Big Bellies" spilling over the table in Albany, to gorge a little less from the public "all you can eat" buffet.
I heard this morning from my contacts in Albany that there's an effort in the Assembly to legalize the cultivation of marijuana up to 15 plants per individual. Sale of said cultivated crop still is illegal as is driving under the influence. Interested parties will need to buy a permit from their local DEC office. The price? $1,000 dollars annually. They expect to generate nearly $1 Billion in cash for the state general fund just in time for Christmas. You heard it here first......
1:02 post,
That's not a half-baked idea (pardon the pun). Sadly, the clowns in Albany haven't the courage to propose such an idea. They're far too spineless to be such progressive thinkers on such a subject as sane regulation of marijuana.
And may I add, the cultivation of industrial hemp, a magical weed unlike any other - it ain't just for rope anymore.
This plant, requiring little environment impact to keep it thriving, makes clothing more endurable than cotton and w/o the ecological harm, samer with fine paper products. We've all seen the bumper sticker that crudely suggests, "Against logging, try wiping with plastic!" Hemp will provide great paper, again with far less impact on the environment.
Additionally, hemp is being developed for used solvents, plastics and fuel.
But, because hemp's cousin, marijuana, is illegal, hemp must be also. Hard to distinguish the two from a helicopter/plane/drone.
I love the irony of this situation. Think about it - Joe Bruno runs the Senate like a king because he's empowered by his conference to do so but the public doesn't like the apparent autocratic style. The Dems take over, have a coup of their own this past summer, democratize the place a little bit more so rank & file senators have some say, and the public is unhappy because it takes too long to reach agreement.
Senators will reach an agreement soon but as I see it, today's hiccup is a prelude of what's to come in the 2011-12 budget negotiations. Nevertheless, NY is better off having a process that's messier, time consuming, and the like than one where the rank & file members largely abdicate their responsibilities and delegate the authority we've bestowed on them to one person. I'll take a more democratic, representative form of government over the former any day - even if it's not pretty, appears chaotic, and so on.
My Christmas and New Year's wishes are for similar changes in the Assembly and actual committee meetings taking place. Now we're talking...
JPM
Further proof that NOT EVERYBODY is displeased with the situation in Albany. I suspect that there are a lot more people just as happy with the work of the legislature and they will work hard to re-elect their respective representatives.
Hemp/marijuana? Yeah, lets do that. Might as well legalize prostitution too, lotsa tax dollars there and the indians seem to making zilions off gambling so we can try that too. The Lotto has made school taxes a thing of the past so that'll probably work. And we can pump a few billion taxpayer dollars into biomass fuels and geothermal energy too, the returns should be huge.....
Sorry for the sarcasm folks, it seems to me we're talking about additional revenue sources while ignoring the problem which is clearly over spending. Until we get a handle on the idea of fighting every issue by throwing obscene amounts of money at it we're stuck in neutral.
Wall Street has contributed to this fiscal mess.
During the Wall Street boom state lawmakers would enact obscene spending increases, new programs and pension giveaways (most of those programs such as the elimination of state and local employee pension contributions after 10 years of service, retirement COLAs Family Health Plus, Child Health Plus, Adirondack Park land purchases and the corresponding property tax payments, big education increases, STAR, Empire Zones, increased debt service, sports staduim subsidies, AMD/IBM subsidies, governor's pork barrel slush fund -eliminated by Paterson- etc. were initiated during the Pataki years) Of course maintenance on upstate bridges was neglected during this time period.
when i run my business poorly and make little or no profit, i can not pay myself. if albany can not improve business practices, then they obviously should not be paid as a direct result of their poor performances. simple. these guys have the best of it all, apparently without consequences. vote them out? i say we find some rope and a strong tree branch.....
Bret4207,
Legalizing marijuana is a cost cutting measure. Not as many weekend warrior locals and DEC lads tromping through the Adirondacks, tug hill, Catskills, backyards, etc. Fewer prison and legal expenses, much less on prosecuting and interdiction all around. Think big picture, brother.....
Really good points about the cost of marijuana interdiction and the War on Drugs.
On the matter of growing hemp, apparently Canada is the leader in research and production, and it is a cash crop for them with many, many uses.
And farmers can grow it in even poor soil conditions, even those found in old, broken down dairy farms.
It is not a panacea by any means, but it wouldn't hurt our State, unless we started subsidizing hemp farmers.
Right, cost cutting. Sure. Take a look at this chart. Doesn't look like drugs of any kind are a cost cutting measure.
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/crime/index.html
I spent 23 years dealing with the effects of the drug trade. I don't think legalizing it will make it any better. Marijuana is an introductory drug. It just leads to worse drugs.
Anonymous said...
...these guys have the best of it all, apparently without consequences. vote them out? i say we find some rope and a strong tree branch.....
November 30, 2009 4:54 PM
Anon at 4:54 pm?
I don't mean to be rude, or wrong, but are you seriously advocating good, old fashioned lynchings?
I suppose using rope will keep from having to use up all that ammo. Save that for the rest of the false patriots.
Gee, I just couldn't resist being rude and sarcastic.
Sorry, please don't hate me...
just make sure that I'm lynched with a rope made from hemp.
Nice - a serious budget discussion sinks to an assinine one about pot.
jpm
Anonymous said...
"Nice - a serious budget discussion sinks to an assinine one about pot.
jpm
November 30, 2009 10:20 PM"
Please, lighten up a bit, Anononymous jpm.
My aren't you on your high horse today. No pun intended :-)
First, this wouldn't be the first time a thread has been led astray by anonymous anons.
Second, discussing the enormous waste of manpower and money that goes up in smoke every year in fighting marijuana in NYS is a serious matter, whether you think so or not. So is the cultivation of hemp.
Third, when someone proposes on this thread that using a rope and a strong tree branch is preferable to using the vote as a way to remove people from office, now that is serious.
Geez, jpm, even matters as grave and serious as the NYS budget can use some levity once in a while.
But I'm consistently wrong and smug on so many matters, why bother listening to me?
Seriously.
Frank,
You're right, I'll lighten up, in fact maybe I'll light up or maybe tune out by putting my tie-die reefer madness shirt on and then que-up some Greatful Dead albums ...
jpm
Frank, the mythical "rope and tree" idea should be in the back (way in the back) of the modern politicians head. No, no one is advocating a lynching. But wouldn't it be nice if we had a group of politicians representing us, say in the State Legislature, that actually were concerned that their antics might results in them being carried bodily from the Legislature and tossed into the Hudson? Shallow water mind you, but still, wouldn't that get the message across that "You work for us!"? I know all the problems with that idea, but the mere idea gives one a sense of satisfaction, does it not?
bret, frank, and other anons- yes i was also being smug when i made the rope comment. just trying to keep my comments short. i am as sarcastic as the most sarcastic person could ever be, and my patience to type my thoughts no longer exists in certain circumstances... but you did get my point that voting them out is not sufficient "punishment" or recourse for many of our representatives in government. rope comment was said for as much impact and shock as i could say in few words, without saying what i really would like to see happen to those that are bleeding salt of the earth people in this country under the guise of government representation. some of the hemp, and cannabis comments are right on, and a side bar to the original discussion about buget deficit, but that doen not bother me. what bothers me is when people in power perform down right irresponsibly, and unethically, that the only recourse is vote them out of office (so they can do the same in a private sector position as well).
one last thought: the person in china that was responsible for adding melamime into powdered milk was executed, not fired, or jailed, he was put to death for a terrible crime. i can be that much of a communist if thats what it would take to scare the crap out of a politician who ever thinks his needs (greed) are greater than anyone he chose to serve. now we support maddoff for the rest of his life, when in fact he destroyed so many other's lives.
if we're worried about the cost of bullets for the firing squad, allow me to make a donation.....but i already have a bunch of rope not being used right at the moment, no cost to anyone.
The "war on illegal drugs" is no different than the "war on terrorism", or "poverty". They are "wars" against a concept, a feeling, not an actual, targetable, object or person as hard as we try to put a face to them. Can a "war" against these types of things ever be "won"? to me it is impossible, and that plays well for some to bennefit from, on many levels... and when politicians try to bennefit from such things in the name of some higher purpose, it makes me absolutely irrate.
Anon. at 10:01AM said,
"if we're worried about the cost of bullets for the firing squad, allow me to make a donation.....but i already have a bunch of rope not being used right at the moment, no cost to anyone."
One can use a thinner gage of rope when hanging Chinese malcontents and criminals.
Their bodyweights tend to be far less than their well-stuffed, high fructose corn syrup saturated American counterparts.
Hope your ropes can hoist upwards of 400 - 450 pounds.
Bring the ammo just in case.
Let's not be too quick to walk away from the concepts of legalizing pot or prostitution. It provides addition tax revenue if you tax pot like tobacco and apply service fees to the prostitution. These things are only illegal now because of the uptight right. I would expect that both of these industries would quaiify for stimulus monies on the basis of new, start-up endeavors. As for the pot being an "introductory drug", we can deal with that later by making the case to legalize other drugs.
In a situation like this, no idea is a bad idea. Let's keep everything on the table.
9:24, please convince me that drug legalization or legalized prostitution would result in a better world for my kids to grow up in. I won't even ask for proof that it's worked elsewhere, just give me a logical reason to believe our society will benefit and that it will improve things.
New business starts. Jobs. Jobs. Increased tax revenue from sales tax, income tax, licenses, pot tax, prostitution user fees, etc. Reduced load on the court and prison systems.
Keeping pot and prostitution illegal just keeps this potential revenue stream underground and untapped.
Making something legal doesn't force someone to partake. Just because alcohol is legal to consume, doesn't mean that your kids will drink when they are of legal age. Same thing with gambling or smoking. Just because you are able to legally do something, doesn't mean you have to do it.
The fact that alcohol and tobacco use is legal doesn't make this a bad or unsafe world for your children, does it?
"The fact that alcohol and tobacco use is legal doesn't make this a bad or unsafe world for your children, does it?"
I'm probably the wrong guy to ask that question. My childrens grandmother (my Mom) is currently undergoing chemo for her double lung cancer, their grandfather (my Dad) died in a DWI accident as did their aunt (my younger sister). As the child of alcoholic parents I can assure you that alcohol certainly has a negative effect on children in that sense. As a parent of at least one child who thinks booze, tobacco, pot and God knows what other drugs are just "toys" to play with I can tell you it's no picnic for the parents either. Having been to numerous DWI accidents and having seen the devastation alcohol can do in that capacity I don't see much good coming from it there either.
Yeah, we tax it and put up with the countless deaths for the money. That doesn't make sense to me. Neither does legalizing more drugs or prostitution. Do we need to go into the horrible state many drug addicts find themselves in? Where do you think a lot of prostitutes come from? Just how many people do you think willingly choose that line of work as opposed to the number who end up selling themselves for a fix?
Sorry, the money just doesn't seem worth it to me.
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