{"id":3474,"date":"2011-01-04T07:38:25","date_gmt":"2011-01-04T12:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=3474"},"modified":"2011-01-05T11:02:51","modified_gmt":"2011-01-05T16:02:51","slug":"big-questions-for-gov-andrew-cuomo-big-cuts-for-the-north-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2011\/01\/04\/big-questions-for-gov-andrew-cuomo-big-cuts-for-the-north-country\/","title":{"rendered":"Big questions for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, big cuts for the North Country"},"content":{"rendered":"

For better or worse, Governor Andrew Cuomo has adopted an essentially Republican philosophy as he takes the reins in Albany.<\/p>\n

That means no new taxes and it even means rolling back a surcharge tax levied on millionaires beginning in 2009, according to an interview he gave to the New York Post’s Fred Dicker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
“My point is: What has been the knee-jerk response in New York? ‘Well, expenses will continue to go up, but we’ll raise taxes.’ Those days are over.”<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Even before cutting taxes for New York’s wealthy, New York faced a $10 billion deficit.\u00a0 This approach will make the needed cuts even more vast.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Cuomo is also expected to unveil plans for a 2% annual cap on local property tax increases when he gives first his state of the state address tomorrow.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In a year when some counties and school districts in the North Country hiked their taxes by double-digit percentages, the squeeze on government services and jobs that would result from a cap is pretty obvious.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So my hope for tomorrow’s speech is pretty simple:\u00a0 I want Gov. Cuomo not just to talk about revenue cuts.\u00a0 After all, cutting taxes is the easy part.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The heavy lift will be the vast cuts in government services and employment that will follow.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As funds from Albany have dried up, local governments have already been scrambling to continue paying for basic programs, from hiring school teachers to maintaining nursing homes.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The property tax cap will make that all but impossible.\u00a0\u00a0 Major programs will have to go.\u00a0 So we need the Governor to lay out in clear, unambiguous terms which programs he expects counties to cut.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The same is true for state agencies.\u00a0 Which prisons will close?\u00a0 How will the state continue to fund ORDA?\u00a0 Will we still have the same level of state police protection in our rural area?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What will happen to the Sunmount facility in Tupper Lake?\u00a0 And if it closes, or is downsized, who will care for the mentally ill patients who live there?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I think it’s also fair to ask why the “emergency” Governor Cuomo has described — and the shared sacrifice he’s calling for — doesn’t extend to the wealthiest New Yorkers.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If thousands of teachers and government workers are going to lose their jobs, and thousands more see their wages frozen, while crucial services for the public are being cut — isn’t there a role here for the affluent who are doing very well in the current economy?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Finally, if Governor Cuomo has accepted the Republican idea that sudden, drastic cuts in government jobs won’t severely damage the economy, we need him to explain those views.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Communities from Lake Placid to Ogdensburg to Malone that rely on state dollars will be waiting anxiously to hear how the new governor’s vision will affect their future.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For better or worse, Governor Andrew Cuomo has adopted an essentially Republican philosophy as he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[10,4862,20],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3475,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3474\/revisions\/3475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}