Since my last letter, many things have changed and in that time the Legislature has been working to contain the effects of 2008’s financial crash. Because of the severity of our deficit nothing is off the table, though we will make every effort to preserve the hard-fought progress our state has made in the areas of education, health care, and other vital services that are threatened by our poor economy.

The Legislature returned to Albany in November to work with the Governor on his plan to close our State’s growing budget deficit. My Ways and Means Committee estimates our enacted state budget, which is $131.9 billion for fiscal year 2009-10, will be $3.7 billion in deficit by December. This figure is between the Governor’s $3.2 billion estimate and the Comptroller’s $4.1 billion estimate. We face a deficit because revenues, especially taxes collected from Wall Street, have fallen short of the projections we used in March to craft the budget.

After meeting with Legislative leaders earlier this fall, and prior to the November sessions, the Governor put forth a plan to save $5 billion in fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11 by cutting 10 percent of all state aid that has not already been paid, except education funding which would be cut by 4.5 percent. By doing so, the Governor planned to close this year’s deficit and get a $2 billion head start on next year’s anticipated shortfall. Many of these cuts would require approval from the Assembly and Senate.

The Governor’s plan called for the state to cut education funding by $480 million of the $24 billion we had budgeted to spend by the March 31, 2010 end of our fiscal year and continue this cut in the next fiscal year, meaning that by the end of the school year in June we would have cut $686 million. Cuts were tailored to the financial circumstances of individual school districts, with deeper cuts to wealthier districts and smaller cuts for poorer districts. School lunch programs and summer special education were cut by 10 percent. Specific to New York City schools, the Deficit Reduction Plan would cut $223 million from a school aid allocation of $8.52 billion. The plan called for SUNY’s $8.5 billion budget to be cut by $90 million (4.6 percent) for senior colleges and $23.7 million for community colleges while CUNY’s $1.7 billion budget would be cut by $53 million (12 percent) for senior colleges and $9.8 million at community colleges.

Health care spending would be cut by 10 percent, or $479.7 million, including $286.6 million in Medicaid funds out of $36 billion set aside for Medicaid in the 2009-10 budget. The federal government’s matching grant system under the stimulus program covers 61.59 percent of New York Medicaid expenditures, so institutions that rely on Medicaid could have lost $1.179 billion. Also proposed were $65.8 million in reductions to hospitals; $94.9 million in reductions to nursing homes; $27.5 million in reductions to personal care services; and $24.5 million in reductions to home care aid. These were some of the largest proposed cuts but cuts as small as $1,000 were also proposed.

On October 19, a meeting of downstate Assembly members led by Speaker Sheldon Silver and my Ways and Means staff was called so that we could discuss the Governor’s plan. Members’ hearings were also held in Buffalo and Albany while I held public hearings in Albany and Syracuse to hear testimony. During these hearings we were told that, yes, we should do something, but the community was not sure that the Governor’s plan was the way to go. Some believed that his cuts went too far, while others believed he didn’t go far enough.

The Legislature was called into session by the Governor on November 10th and the week beginning November 16th. While the Assembly and Senate each passed several pieces of legislation, we have not reached a deal on the Deficit Reduction Plan. Our negotiations will continue and we must act before the state experiences a cash shortfall which could stop government. Please refer to my Web site for updates on our budget work.

Also on my front burner are a number of important issues in the community, including bus service and traffic backups in the area of 157th Street and Broadway. During recent roadwork a stop on the BX 6 bus line at 155th Street and Macombs Dam Road was deleted, but we were promised that the stop would return when the project was complete. The stop was not brought back. I have made recommendations that the bus stop return, and relocate to the M2 bus stop location on the other side of the viaduct. In a separate but related issue, I have recommended to the city that a part of 157th Street between Edward Morgan Place and Riverside Drive West be made into a one-way street to reduce traffic jams there.

Another issue of concern is the growing number of bars in neighborhoods afflicted by noise and other disturbances which are blamed on late-night patrons. Apart from keeping close tabs on applications for new liquor licenses, I have testified in opposition to a special permit sought for a fourth bar in an already noisy neighborhood. Prior to this, I had also supported a bill, which was later signed into law by the Governor, that closes a loophole in our liquor laws.

I will be in touch during the coming months to report on the latest developments in Albany, and will maintain an ongoing discussion of our negotiations on my Web site, which may be found at www.assembly.state.ny.us.