Just
as all of the pieces of the state budget puzzle started to come into focus, the
whole process was turned on its end in mid-March with the resignation of NYS
Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his succession by Lt. Gov. David Paterson.“We don’t know how that abrupt change will affect the budget deliberations,” said PEF President Ken Brynien, “but we have enjoyed a good working relationship with Gov. Paterson during his 20 years in the state Senate and as lieutenant governor and we look forward to working with him in his new role as governor.”
Just a week earlier, a group of PEF activists had gathered in Albany to meet with key lawmakers to discuss the union’s most serious budget concerns, including Spitzer’s proposal to close certain state correctional and youth facilities.
“Those meetings generally went well,” said PEF Vice President Joe Fox, who chairs PEF’s Political Action Committee. “Our PAC members were joined by several PEF members from the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) who could explain how budget cuts might affect young New Yorkers.”
After talking with PEF members, Sen. Eric Adams of Brooklyn, for example, said he would try to visit the Pyramid Reception Center in the Bronx which would be closed under the Executive Budget proposal.
As this issue of The Communicator goes to press in mid-March, the state Assembly has passed its budget bills, and the Senate has passed a resolution laying out its general position on various budget issues. The leaders of both houses will meet with Paterson in an attempt to reconcile their differences by the end of the state’s fiscal year March 31.
The Assembly and Senate budget positions regarding PEF’s main budget priorities are:
• Youth program/facilities – The Assembly restored no funding to prevent closings or consolidations. The Senate resolution supports keeping the Auburn, Brace and Great Valley facilities open with Great Valley converted to limited-security. No funding was specified. The Senate did not take up the Lansing, Adirondack or Pyramid programs and appears to accept the governor’s proposal to close, merge or reduce them. The Senate proposed to amend the law to double the required prior notice to 24 months for the closing or reduction of youth facilities and programs.
• Correctional facilities – The Assembly restored no funding to prevent the closing of Hudson CF or Camps McGregor, Pharsalia and Gabriels. The Senate would restore $10.7 million to keep them all open. The Senate would amend the law to require 24 months prior notice of any plans to close state correctional facilities or camps. And the Senate would require the state to provide a plan for adapting and reusing any correctional facilities whenever it announces a plan to close them.
• Food inspections – The Assembly would restore $825,000 which should fund approximately 26 of the 38 food-inspector positions that would be eliminated under the Executive Budget. The Assembly would modify the Executive’s proposal that would replace annual inspections of food stores with a risk-based approach. The Assembly would authorize a risk-based approach, but also require every food store be inspected at least once every two-years. The Senate would restore $1.2 million for food inspectors and reject the change to risk-based inspections. It would continue to require annual inspections.
• Bridge preservation – The Assembly would eliminate $139.82 million for the state Transportation Department’s bridge preservation program, which would wipe out funding for the 339 new positions proposed for this program. The Senate would cut the bridge preservation funding by $127 million and leave nearly $13 million for hiring new bridge crews. The Assembly and Senate rejected a proposed auto insurance surcharge to help pay for bridge preservation.
PEF will continue to closely monitor the budget process and advocate for those provisions in the best interest of PEF members and the public they serve.
Check the PEF Web site sections on “Budget” and “Current News,” as well as the PEF Information Line and PEF Online for news updates.
