Paterson’s Proposition
Paterson—you can’t cut your way out of this crisis
Gov. David Paterson’s proposed budget cuts for the rest of the year and 2009-2010 were announced Wednesday, and include a 1.8 billion cut in Medicaid spending. This cut comes despite the fact that New York has long wisely determined that Medicaid spending should not be tampered with even in tough economic times.
Paterson’s cuts were not Draconian across-the-board cuts as feared—and the legislature is preparing to fight back. But here’s what we know so far about Paterson’s other proposed hits to services that affect the AIDS community:
- Many legislative programs would be cut in half including $253,000 cuts each for AIDS Testing Prevention Initiatives, AIDS Community Services and AIDS Community Based organizations. In addition, specific organizations receiving member-items, such as the New York AIDS Coalition, the Latino Commission on AIDS and Legal Aid Society of New York City would see their funding slashed in half.
- The Article 6 health match to localities and freestanding community health clinics that took a 2 percent reduction in April have been held harmless.
- HIV Related Risk Reduction Services and Hep C Programs—slashed by 50 percent in August—will not receive an additional cut.
While New York State obviously has a budget hole to fill, Paterson hasn’t exhausted all of the revenue-raising options he could before slashing funding for the states most vulnerable constituents. The governor deserves props for proposing to expand the “bottle bill” which will levy taxes for all unclaimed five-cent deposits. But there are many other revenue-raising options he refuses to consider. Here’s what One New York and other groups proposed.
“Sixty percent of New Yorkers voted for Obama even though he said he’d raise taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year,” said Housing Works Director of New York Policy and Organizing Kristin Goodwin. “Yet Paterson argues that wealthy New Yorkers are going to leave the state if their taxes are raised. It doesn’t make sense.”
Posted on November 13, 2008 at 9:40 pm
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