By Mark Scott
Albany, NY – Governor David Paterson submitted his proposal to legislative leaders Monday for cutting $1 billion in spending from the current year's state budget. He's called lawmakers for an emergency session in Albany on August 19th.
The biggest proposed reduction would be a more than $500 million cut in Medicaid funding. But the proposal does not include reducing state school aid.
Paterson says he's open to any ideas legislators have for making cuts.
"On April 1, 2009, in just 232 days, we will have no other choice but to reduce spending and close a $6.4 billion budget gap. And if the economy continues to worsen, the spending reductions I have proposed will be necessary to help ensure the current year's budget remains in balance," said Paterson. "Either way, the longer we fail to act, the more painful and limited our choices will be."
But Paterson's Medicaid spending cuts are being met by stiff resistance from the healthcare industry. Officials of the Healthcare Association of New York say patients will suffer if the cuts are approved. They say the state's hospitals and nursing homes are being made "sacrificial lambs."