WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. By John F. Bailey. August 9, 2010:
A spokesperson for the New York State Budget Division press office, Eric Kriss denied today that stimulus money from the ARRA (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act) was directly figured into closing the $9.2 Billion budget gap last week, as reported by 89th District (White Plains-Lewisboro) Assemblyman Robert Castelli Friday. The $5.7 Billion (in unused stimulus money) going to plug the budget gap was reported by Castelli to WPCNR Friday.
However, on closer questioning, Kriss allowed that $5.7 Billion in stimulus money was in the budget, so in a sense, “it was true,” that the ARRA money was balancing the budget.
Robert Whelan of the Comptroller’s Press Office confirmed to WPCNR that $5.7 Billion of stimulus (ARRA funds) was included in the budget, and contributed to filling the budget gap, and was indeed unspent. He said it depended on what you spent it on during the course of the current year, but it would be spent. Whelan added that the Comptroller’s Office pointed out in July that$14.8 Billion in the present 2010-11 budget passed last week was based on “non-recurring revenues.” “We have a balanced budget, not a good budget. We have balanced the budget on hope,” Whelan told WPCNR.
Asked if the Comptroller would be breaking down how the $9.2 Billion gap is actually being met, said the Comptroller’s Office was in the process of analyzing the budget passed last week.
Kriss, the press spokesperson for the budget office denied that the $5.7 Billion of ARRA money was filling the major portion of the budget gap, because “none of it (the ARRA $5.7 Million) was included in figuring the gap. We used $800 Million of the FMAP (federal Medicaid reimbursement funds), but did not include the stimulus money.” Kriss said that Castelli probably got that information that the $5.7 Billion stimulus funds were balancing the budget from the Comptroller’s Office.
Kriss maintained the $9.2 Billion gap was closed by withholding tax credits from businesses, tax increases, sales tax increases, fee increases and cuts made previously in interim spending bills passed over the last three months were used to eliminate the $9.2 Billion gap.
WPCNR asked if the state was borrowing from the pension fund as Assemblyman Castelli reported. Kriss denied the pension fund involvement “in the traditional sense,” because, he said the $1 billion attributed as “pension borrowing” by Castelli was not borrowing, and that it has not been decided whether or not to do this yet, that the state was instead, going to “amortize” part of the state pension fund costs for this year, but would not actually decide to do that until March of 2011.
Kriss asked by WPCNR today if unused ARA money was still in the budget allowed that “ARRA funds in the amount of $5.7 Billion were included in the (passed) budget, so I suppose in that sense, (of being included in the budget) it is true.”
The July Comptroller's Analysis
On page 5 of a news release from the Comptroller's office analyzing the revenue plan, the Comptroller's office writes:
"The State Fiscal Year 2010-11 Executive Budget included approximately $12.8 billion in non-recurring or temporary resources, most of which were accepted int the Enacted Budget.This includes $5.7 Billion in federal stimulous funds as well as $5.5 billion from the temporary increase in the Personal Income Tax enacted last year, both of which are scheduled to expire in the near future."
Tab for State Government: $374 Million a Day.
Given that the 2010-11 New York State budget passed last week is $136.5 Billion, it costs New Yorkers $373,972,600 a Day to open New York State every day.
