Click CUOMO
for the full transcript, video, etc. from the
State of the State, January 5, 2011
BALCONY MEMBER COMMENTS
CSEA president Danny Donohue:
The Governor offered many ideas which we will consider carefully. We will agree
with some and disagree with others. Where we disagree, there will be healthy
debate to find ways to work together. It won't be easy, but good government
never is.
Click here for the full article: Gormley
The Shameful Attack on Public Employees -- by Robert Reich
In
1968, 1,300 sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike.
The Rev. Martin Luther
King, Jr. came to support them.
That was where he lost his life.
Eventually Memphis
heard the grievances of its sanitation workers.
And in subsequent years millions
of public employees across the nation have benefited from the job protections
they've earned.
But now the right is going after public employees.
Click here for the full article: Reich
(photo: P. Flaherty)
Statement from PEF President Kenneth Brynien in Response to Gov. Cuomo's State of the State Message
ALBANY, NY - In response today to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of
the State Message in Albany, Kenneth Brynien,
president of the New York State
Public Employees Federation, said:
"We agree with Governor Cuomo that we all need to work together to solve the state's budget problems.
We are encouraged that he proposes to work together to help New York through this crisis, rather than dictate solutions.
We look forward to working with him through this same deliberative process when dealing with the juvenile justice facilities and we recognize the need for programs these facilities provide. They are not just a jobs program, but a continuum of services in the juvenile justice system.
Working together to help New York through this crisis requires all New Yorkers to do their part, and both the spending and revenue sides of the solution need equal consideration.
It's time for a common sense approach to the state's fiscal problem. State workers did not cause the economic crisis, but we stand willing to work with the governor to fix it. "
OPINION: Practical Options for New York's Budget -- by James Parrott, Fiscal Policy Institute
With the slow
recovery from the Great Recession of 2008-2009, New York State's budget situation
remains precarious.
Most states are in a similar position, since their revenues have dropped more
than any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
State tax collections, adjusted for inflation, are still 12% below pre-recession
levels while the need for state-funded services has grown.
At least 46 states struggled in 2010 to close budget shortfalls. There is no
let-up in sight. Federal fiscal relief to the states has a greatly
diminished and most of it is scheduled to end in mid-2011.
Click here for the full article: FPI