Today marks the deadline in which the New York state budget should be passed. We are currently over $57.5 billion in debt, that’s $11,700 per family of four in our state and the highest level of debt we have ever had. Over the past decade, we have restructured our debt so poorly that we now owe $6.4 billion in debt services. Too many of our state leaders have become increasingly comfortable with proposing borrowing to pay off our debt, that they no longer stop to consider the long-term consequences of their actions to our overall fiscal well-being.
The current budget proposal implements another $2 billion in borrowing each year for the next three years against state agencies; The Assembly Majority already has passed a resolution agreeing to this. This will result in a drastic decrease of our state credit score causing our interest rates to skyrocket, and putting us right back in this situation, with even greater debt in the years to come.
The tax-and-spend philosophy of the current state leaders is unacceptable. I have continued to be a strong voice against any further borrowing or increasing the tax burden on our families and businesses. I call on the leaders of the Senate and Assembly, as well as the governor, to present a plan that actually proposes reducing state spending in order to begin what will undoubtedly be a painful process aimed at eliminating our debt. This is not the legacy we want to leave future generations - placing our children in a situation where they too must suffer under high taxes and growing deficits to pay for today’s irresponsible mistakes.