News 12 Newsmakers: Greg Ball says Hudson Valley not spared from fallout of state budget (Part 2)

Assemblyman Greg Ball (R, C, I - Patterson) today unveiled a list of proposed solutions to close this year's budget deficit, as well as to help avoid such pitfalls in the future with long-term cost-savings initiatives. Highlighting the $130 million that legislative leaders are holding onto in unspent pork barrel accounts, Ball called on Albany's "3 men" to walk the walk by making the same spending sacrifices they are asking the people and businesses in our state to make.

"New York State is a financial mess," Ball said. "New York families have been tightening their belts for months now, and it is time for their government to do the same. We can no longer rely on the Albany insiders' business-as-usual tax-and-spend method of filling budget gaps, like the ridiculous deficit-reduction plan the Governor has offered, which would balance the budget on the backs of the elderly and the disabled, or the insane proposals from the same Senators who shut down the state government for a month, which would impose one billion dollars in new health insurance taxes."

If enacted, Ball's cost-saving initiatives provide at least $3.5 billion toward closing the $3.2 billion budget deficit. These proposals include eliminating the remaining $130 million in inappropriate member item funding and merging high-level administration in various state agencies, such as merging the Department of Transportation with the Thruway Authority as well as the Consumer Protection Board with the Department of Law. These administrative mergers would provide approximately $924.6 million.

"Early this year, the powers that be rammed through a disastrous budget, which contained $8 billion in new taxes and the nefarious MTA bailout, propped up on unrealistic revenue projections and reliance upon federal stimulus dollars to fill the remaining gaps," Ball said. "We now see that the tax, spend, and subsidize plan has run up a $3.2 billion deficit for this year, with even larger deficit projections on the horizon. It is time for real action to create jobs, cut spending, and lower taxes. I call on my colleagues to stand up and jo

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