ALBANY – Governor Cuomo did not mince words today when he criticized the federal government for the economic stimulus package approved by lawmakers.
On the one hand, he said the package is good in that it will provide $5 billion to state government, but only to cover COVID-19 expenses. It does nothing for the state, though, in terms of lost revenue.
He called the package “irresponsible and reckless” for not providing the state with any funds for lost revenue.
That is particularly important to New York as the state budget must be adopted by March 31.
Without the federal dollars, the state will face a $10 billion to $15 billion deficit and Cuomo said that means the state cannot spend more than it is taking in.
“First we are going to adjust down our revenue projections for the initial budget and then what we are going to do, which is something we have never done before, is we are going to adjust the budget through the years to reflect the actual revenue,” he said.
That translates to local governments and school districts will not be receiving as much state aid as in the past because of the cash shortfall.
