Paterson statement on extender passage, furloughs

Mere minutes after Assembly approval puts the measure on his desk, here’s Gov. David Paterson’s statement on the extender and the furlough plan it contains:

by Casey Seiler

“I commend the Legislature for approving my emergency appropriations legislation, which will ensure the continued orderly operation of government and achieve necessary workforce savings through State employee furloughs. Over the next week, I will work closely with my agency commissioners to expeditiously implement these furloughs in a manner that both reduces taxpayer costs and minimizes any potential impact on public services.

“The budget that I have proposed reflects the principle of shared sacrifice. It includes tough but necessary cuts across every single area of State spending. At a time of unprecedented fiscal crisis, every single organization and individual that relies upon State funding needs to make sacrifices. Unfortunately, however, all we’ve heard so far from the leadership of our State’s public employee unions are expletives and excuses.

“I recognize that these furloughs represent a difficult sacrifice for many of the State’s public employees. That sacrifice is only necessary because their union leadership has rejected all other reasonable attempts at compromise. One such proposal that I put forward is to eliminate a scheduled 4-to-7 percent general salary increase for State employees, which I believe is a fair concession at a time when more than a quarter of million New Yorkers in the private sector have lost their jobs and other local public employee unions across the State are reopening their contracts. These furloughs were a last resort.

“In the days ahead, the special interests will use every tool at their disposal to try and prevent me from doing what is necessary to put our State’s fiscal house in order. My only objective is to help New York turn the corner on this fiscal crisis and that goal guides every decision I make as Governor. And I will continue to make the difficult decisions needed to close our $9.2 billion deficit and put taxpayers first. The sooner our State is on a path to economic recovery, the better for every New Yorker.”