Paterson Defends Budget Proposals in Greenburgh

New York State is suffering, and it could get worse.

But I warned you, and it's not my fault.

That was the core of Governor David Paterson's message during his appearance in Greenburgh Monday to discuss the state budget, which faces massive cuts and a $9.2 billion gap. Paterson's budget includes decreases in school funding and Medicaid, $1 billion in taxes including a tax on sugary drinks, park closures and a proposal that would allow supermarkets to sell wine.

"Many of the decisions I've made to close this budget are bad decisions," Paterson said. "They are bad decisions at any other time in history."

He blamed years of overspending and borrowing for the state's fiscal mess.

Beverage industry workers, high school students, municipal officials and desperate unemployed people were among the crowd of 300 that packed the gymnasium of the Theodore Young Community Center for the hour-long question-and-answer session.

Paterson said he was more interested in listening than talking, and the crowd was up to the task.

"We're being asked to give more money to people who have been misusing the money we already gave them," said Larry Konareski, a sales manager for Coca Cola. He said that job losses caused by the proposed soda tax would outweigh any potential public health benefits, which would come decades down the road.

Paterson defended the tax, and said that the mentality that we should fix our problems at the expense of future generations is what got the state into the red in the first place.

One member of a future generation, Edgemont High School junior Tom Rosenblatt, asked the governor if schools would receive full state aid this year.

The Democratic governor's proposed budget includes a decrease of five percent, or $1.1 billion, in school aid, but schools around the state have a total of $1.5 billion in rainy-day funds. As long as property tax revenue rolls in before those reserves run out, the state can avoid more cuts and layoffs, Paterson said.

Until then school aid will be targeted based on the relative wealth of school districts, meaning affluent areas like Rye and Scarsdale will see more drastic cuts.

Florence Johnson, an organizer with the New York City-based Health Care Education Project, said she supports the soda tax and wanted to know why the Legislature has yet to act to avert cuts in health care.

"We understand that everyone is going to take a hit because of this budget," she said.

Paterson chided legislators, saying that the fear of public outrage has kept them from acting on cuts and taxes. Every seat in the Legislature is up for grabs in this fall's elections. Because of that and the Easter and Passover holidays, he said, there's little hope that the budget will pass by the beginning of the fiscal year on April 1.

The governor said the situation will be worse next year, when a new executive will be in office.

"That might be the reason I've decided not to run for reelection," he joked.

Paterson dropped his election bid last month after a New York Times article alleged that he and state police officials interfered in an investigation into a domestic dispute involving one of the governor's top aides.

A couple of days later, a state ethics panel released a report that said Paterson was out of line when he accepted free World Series tickets from the New York Yankees last fall, when the team was actively lobbying the state for funding.

After the forum, Greenburgh Town Councilwoman Sonja Brown said she wasn't happy with the governor's answer to her question, about a summer youth employment program that is on the chopping block. Paterson said it was the "deadliest" question he heard all afternoon.

"It seemed like [his answer] was basically, 'I don't know'," Brown said.