Putting good press, popularity over good government The reality on the local level is very


By MARTY O’CONNOR Gov. Andrew Cuomo got his budget.


His message is clear: I’m running for president in 2016 and I am building a resume. The actual outcomes of the choices he


makes don’t really matter. What matters are the headlines and bragging rights. Cuomo only cares about appearances.


Implementation and actually governing are for others to worry about. Besides, he doesn’t plan on being here when the stuff really hits the fan. Just look at the budget gap trajectory


as reported by the state Division of Budget and you will get the picture. This year, the gap was reported as


$3.5 billion. Next fiscal year, 2013-14, the gap is projected to be $715 million, just one-fifth as large. So, when Cuomo runs for re-election


in 2014, the budget gap will be very manageable. However, the projected budget gap for


the first fiscal year into his second term, 2014-15, is nearly $3 billion again, and for the following fiscal year, 2015-16, it’s


$3.7 billion. How could the gap drop so sharply


and then start growing again so dramatically? For starters, take the governor’s “tax


reform” (The one where, instead of simply extending the surcharge on New York’s wealthiest, he lowered it and then claimed he had raised their taxes.) which was temporary. So, the benefit fades in the future. But


it was a great headline when he did it: “Albany Tax Deal to Raise Rate for Highest Earners,” proclaimed The New York Times. Well, as it turns out, not so much. Then, came Tier 6. The New York Post


proclaimed, “Statehouse OKs deal to fix hyper pension.” And the story parroted Cuomo’s comment that it will save, “… cash-strapped governments $48 billion over 30 years.” This was on the heels of Tier 5 which


was, according to an Assembly press release, expected to “save state and local governments $35 billion over the next 30 years.”


different from these grand proclamations. One local government official is


quoted as saying, “the new tier doesn’t help the city in the near term. .... Any significant savings wouldn’t be realized for at least another 10 years or more.” The real point of Tier 6 was not to


close the budget gap, but to introduce defined-contribution pensions into New York State. Once again, it’s the appearance that matters. As a future candidate for governor and


then for president, Cuomo can boast to voters: In the union bastion of New York, he instituted a 401k-type plan for public employees. Never mind it is only for non-union


employees making more than $75,000. It is on the books. The governor gets good headlines and


astronomical poll numbers. New Yorkers get fewer hands to do


state work; a demoralized and overworked workforce and more budget gaps ahead. Hardly a win-win.


www.pef.org


The Communicator May 2012—Page 9


TRUTH BE TOLD – EDITORIAL


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