Andrew Cuomo released his statewide budget on Tuesday, outlining layoffs and cuts to reduce the current budget by $3.7 billion, "a reduction in spending not seen in Albany since the mid-1990s" according to the AP.
Perhaps hit hardest by the cuts, in addition to the 9,800 layoffs that would ensue, is aid to New York City. The AP:
Cuomo's proposal would cut $918.4 million in state aid to New York City, more than half of it school aid, and provide no municipal aid to the city for the second straight year.
The Mayor responded Tuesday to Cuomo's proposal, which would take out $579.7 from city schools, and $35 million of state funding from a city program that gave assistance to those at risk for losing their housing.
The Mayor acknowledged that budgetary cuts were necessary and to be expected, and that NYC would shoulder its share of the burden as was needed. "The Governor has inherited a very difficult situation," Bloomberg said, "a broken budget process, and we know he has tough choices to make."
"Unfortunately, the budget does not treat New York City equitably; it eliminates 100 percent of New York City's revenue sharing aid - more than $300 million - while cutting other localities by just 2 percent. The residents of our five counties pay a disproportionate amount of State taxes, and they deserve the same level of support.
We need relief from unfunded State mandates, as well as changes in State law that would allow us to save money, particularly where we can find ways to save money that would not cost the State a dime. "Without those changes, we will be looking at thousands of layoffs in our schools and across City agencies. And because of the last-in, first-out law, we would be forced to layoff teachers based solely on how many years they've logged on the job, not on the quality of the job they're doing.