Assemblymember Cahill’s Statement on the Passage of the Deficit Reduction Plan

December 2, 2009

In the past weeks during our Extraordinary Session, the Legislature passed several fundamental reforms that will produce real, recurring and significant savings for New Yorkers. The new PACE loan programs, as a companion to our Green Jobs programs, will help households and businesses lower energy costs across the board. Our dramatic actions to reform our public authorities and the creation of a new Tier V in our public pension system will not only save state and local governments money this year, but literally billions in the years ahead. Comptroller DiNapoli sounded the alarm that we must address our long term obligations. By taking on our authorities and pension system we are answering that call.

The stated purpose of this Extraordinary Session was to deal with our looming budget crisis by enacting a deficit reduction plan. After long weeks of discussions and deliberations, my colleagues and I have agreed on a plan to address our state’s budget shortfall. In the face of such a daunting economic climate, tough choices needed to be made. Although the Assembly was prepared to enact the $3.9 billion in proposed cuts that were necessary to close the deficit and begin to address the out-year gap, we could not get the other parties to agree. The final decision was that it was best to enact a $2.7 billion deficit reduction plan now where a three way agreement could be forged, than to deal with these mounting issues at some later date.

Throughout the negotiation process, I maintained my commitment to fight for New York’s most vulnerable residents. My top priorities were protecting vital public services and ensuring our children continued access to a quality education. As our educators, school boards and administrators demanded, there are no mid year cuts to education or new taxes in our plan. We also protected federal matching dollars for health care.

Every state in our nation is struggling. New York is weathering this crisis by taking timely and decisive action to address our fiscal concerns. We have been able to avoid drastic cuts such as furloughs, the elimination of pre-kindergarten classes and issuance of IOUs that we have seen in other states.

Of course, some sacrifices had to be made. But by avoiding cuts that disproportionately affect one segment of the population, I believe we passed a responsible plan. Our fight is not over. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to renew New York’s economy, maintain the state’s fiscal stability and protect the many families struggling to make ends meet.

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