Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined opposing scenarios for the upcoming budget. One of them included $15 billion in federal bailout money to make the state’s books flush. The other included a version of events where New York only receives $6 billion.
It would mean nearly $10 billion in cuts if that occurred.
It all comes down to what President Joe Biden can come up with. He’s proposed a $350 billion deal, but there’s still uncertainty.
“The question becomes, how do they distribute that $350 billion and how much goes to the New York state government,” Cuomo said. “We don’t know in short what level of aid we will get but the budget is dependent on that number.”
The bottom line is simple: If serious federal money does not come along – services will be severely cut – including education and first responders – and taxes will increase.
“New York paid a bill for COVID that no state in the nation paid for and it’s not even close,” Cuomo added on Tuesday.
The budget will have to be passed by March 31st.
That said, Democrats in the state legislature want to raise taxes on the ultra-wealthy. And that could be a fault line between Gov. Cuomo and lawmakers around the state.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said that there has been plenty of suffering among New Yorkers during the pandemic, but giving the billionaires a pass isn’t a solution that her party can get behind.
“We have a responsibility to ensure our recovery and that this recovery is not balanced on the backs of the hard hit New Yorkers. The wealthy have gotten wealthier during this crisis even as the Middle Class has shrunk and millions of New Yorkers have struggled to make ends meet. We must be ready to act as a state to advance efforts to raise revenues, including having the hyper-wealthy share this burden,” she said in a statement.
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