Looking for a tax-cutting, budget-slashing, fiscally conservative governor? How about Andrew Cuomo? Yes, that Andrew Cuomo.
With the possible exceptions of California and Illinois, no state is facing as big an economic mess as New York. Years of profligate spending and crushing taxes have left the state with a $10 billion budget shortfall. The conventional wisdom said that despite having the nation’s highest tax burden, and what Cuomo has called the “worst business climate in the country,” New York would have no choice but to hike taxes yet again. That is, after all, the path that Illinois just chose, raising its state income tax by 75 percent.
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Cuomo rejected that approach, early, often, and loudly. He vowed to balance the state’s budget without borrowing and without raising taxes.
“The old way of solving the problem was continuing to raise taxes on people, and we just can’t do that anymore. The working families of New York cannot afford tax increases. The answer is going to have to be that we’re going to have to reduce government spending,” Cuomo declared.
In fact, Cuomo didn’t just rule out tax increases, he actually called for tax cuts. Already he has pushed through the state senate a bill establishing one of the nation’s strongest caps on property taxes. For New York businesses and homeowners, this is a long overdue move. Nationally, the median annual property tax is $1,917. In some New York counties, the average property-tax bill exceeds $9,000.
Cuomo’s proposal, modeled after nearby Massachusetts’s successful Proposition 2½, would limit property-tax increases to no more than 2 percent or 120 percent of the inflation rate, whichever is lower. Significantly, it does not include traditional loopholes for things like government employees’ health-insurance premiums or pensions. It would also eliminate the practice of localities’ voting separately to approve school budgets without regard to their impact on taxes. And most important, the bill would require a 60 percent supermajority for voters to override the cap, ensuring that taxes would only be raised for genuine emergencies or the most worthwhile projects.
Cuomo also has announced that he will allow the state’s “temporary” income-tax surcharge on the wealthy to expire as scheduled at the end of this year. That has outraged liberal groups, unions, and the New York Times, but Cuomo responds by warning that high taxes are a job-killer and would “just prolong the recessionary conditions in the state.”
Of course, tax-cutting is always easier than budget-cutting — as Congress has shown in recent years — but Cuomo also seems serious about controlling state spending. In fact, Cuomo sounds almost Reaganesque, declaring flatly, “The state spends too much money.”
Almost immediately, he imposed a freeze on salaries for state workers. While that move was more symbolism than substance, it was important symbolism. Public-employee unions have been some of the state’s most powerful special interests. Since 2007, while most Americans have been struggling, New York public employees have seen their wages and benefits go up by 13 percent. Beyond the symbolism, Cuomo’s freeze will save taxpayers $200 million this year. Cuomo is also set to cut the size of the state bureaucracy. His 2011 budget, released yesterday, calls for a reduction in the state work force of some 15,000 people, slightly more than 7 percent of the state’s 200,000 employees. And he cut his own office’s budget by 25 percent.
Overall, Cuomo’s budget represents the first proposed year-to-year drop in state spending since the mid 1990s. Everything is on the table, from prison construction to state aid to New York City.
Cuomo also appears ready to go after the sacred cows of state spending: education and health care. He has pledged to eliminate state budget rules that lock in annual increases to educational programs and Medicaid — a 13 percent hike this year. But beyond doing away with the automatic $8 billion hike built into the budget formulas, Cuomo plans real cuts as well. His budget would cut Medicaid spending by $3 billion.
He would also shave nearly $1 billion from state education spending. And Cuomo has made it clear that he was talking about actual cuts, not just the traditional game of decreases in the rate of increase.
The proposed cuts have engendered the usual howls of outrage that it will lead to fired teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and sick people dying in the street. In response, Cuomo notes that New York spends more per pupil on education and more per enrollee on Medicaid than nearly any other state, yet has little to show for the money.
Andrew Cuomo apparently understands that the secret to economic growth is a smaller, less expensive government. It’s an approach that some of his fellow Democrats in Washington — including the White House — could learn a lot from.
This might be the most hopeful thing I've read this year. Are they putting something in the water lines at the New York and New Jersey Governor's mansions? If so, when do they start on California (and for that matter, the rest of the country)?
Cuomo's campaign documents were quite vague on Medicaid, proposing nothing of real substance. It will be interesting to see if he is following the Christie model.
I remember when Cuomo was HHS secretary under Clinton. This was back in the days when "the homeless" was still a big Democrat propaganda issue and Rush was doing his Homeless Updates. Cuomo said in an interview on TV that most of the homeless were alchoholics and people with mental problems, and that there were proportionately very few people who had just ended up on the street through plain old poverty. I was a bit surprised at his willingness to state the obvious in contradiction to the liberal party line. Maybe he has a realistic streak. We conservatives should now start hailing him for his "pragmantism". In liberalese, when applied to conservatives, that means "caved in".
Cuomo heroically fought the corruption of health insurance companies that cheated thousands of doctors of hundreds of millions of dollars owed them merely because the companies thought they were too powerful to be challenged. While other attorneys general cowered from their might, Cuomo took them on and exposed their underhanded business practices. I would vote for Cuomo anytime, and I say that as a conservative Republican.
Mr. Tanner, there are a lot of us out here in upstate NY who wont be jumping into the "Cuomo Camper" (is it headed to Wash.?)with you. NYS has the highest property taxes in the nation and the Gov. says they should go higher. He doesn't say the NYS Resid. & Comm. Property Tax system is loaded with years and layer upon layer of special interest exemptions, unfairness, loopholes,etc.. The NYSRCPTS is like an overflowing garbage can that should be dumped in the nearest landfill. Trying to put a cap on such a mess is futile.
The new Gov just found out now that the NYS budget process is a scam or sham?? Wow,where has he been?
Gov. Cuomo has not mentioned that NYS has the highest residential electric rates in the nation and under its RGGI cap&trade&tax and NYS Climate Action Plan these rates will continue to "skyrocket". The debate is over on MMGW. Al Gore, the UNIPCC and their sycophants have taken the "ten count" and "cap&trade is dead at the Fed. The best thing NYS can do is pull the plug on RGGI and replace it with a responsible energy plan. By the way NJ and NH are doing just that.
Space and time doesn't permit me to go on with a very long list of the reasons not to jump on the "Cuomo Camper", but here is one more for the road.
Andy Cuomo supports the unconstitutional Obamacare Health plan, refused to join in the lawsuit w/ more than half of the other states and wont tell the cost to NYS.
Hope you have a good ride.
I met Andrew when his father was Governor. I was a NYS Trooper assigned to the Protection Detail at their home in Queens, NY.
Although I differ in political leanings from Mario Cuomo, I must say that he worked his tail off on behalf of the state. It was not uncommon for him to put in 16 - 18 hour work days. He and his family ALWAYS treated the state troopers with dignity and respect - they were friendly, open and very nice folks.
Andrew was always been a gentleman even as a young man. His career has been remarkable and even though you may not "like" his politics, you must admit and admire that he is very professional in the conduct of his duties as Governor and as Attorney General he was a true crime fighter.
It is worth noting that he inherited the financial and political corruption issues he is currently battling and was right up front about it despite the fact that his predecessors are both fellow Democrats.
