After weeks of deliberation and debate, and even a missed deadline, New York state finally has a budget that puts it lawmakers in agreement. Less than 12 hours after the deadline passed, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the New York state Senate and Assembly passed the $121 billion budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

But the budget’s effect won’t be widely seen on SU’s campus, said Donald Dutkowsky, professor of economics in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. ‘SU is a private university, independent from the state. So what runs our university is independent from the state,’ Dutkowsky said.

New York state legislators did agree to increase school aid by $440, however.

‘Overall it has been a good budget for students in that the government held the line on tuition,’ said Dana Hill, project coordinator for New York Public Interest Research Group’s SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry branch. ‘The budget also did a good job funding opportunity programs in New York, as it will provide the opportunity to students to attend college.’

It calls for a $1.8 billion increase for state schools, which goes on top of the $17 billion that is currently being spent.

‘The budget will allow more people to afford higher education, which is a great investment by the state,’ Hill said.

But some of the major items for which Spitzer had been fighting were left off the budget. The Bigger Better Bottle Bill, which would have allowed noncarbonated drink bottles to be recyclable, was voted down.

‘We are disappointed that the Bigger Better Bottle Bill was not in the budget,’ Hill said. ‘We are going to continue to get it passed as a bill, as it is common sense that will help the environment of New York.’

That bill and a midyear tuition assistance program also not included are measures Syracuse University NYPIRG members have lobbied for in the past year.

‘The budget did not include midyear TAP adjustments, which we will work for and we will continue to press for,’ Hill said.

Though the budget passed a few hours after its deadline, this year’s budget was completed in a timely manner compared to the previous budgets, Dutkowsky said.

‘New York has been notorious for being late on its budget deadlines,’ he said. ‘A few hours late, marginally – it’s on time. Put in the perspective that the previous budgets were months late, holding up operations in schools and government, they did a nice job.’

According to the budget, New York state is expected to spend $84 billion, a $6.7 billion – or 9 percent increase in state spending – against last year’s budget.

‘The budget is a good size, as typically the state budget needs to stay balanced and they did a good job,’ Dutkowsky said.

One thing the budget did not increase was Medicaid spending, as the budget will cut $1 billion in Medicaid spending.

The budget, however, is a work in progress, even though it has already been passed. During the next few weeks, lawmakers will work out pay raises, project money and tuition tax credit.

In an interview soon after the budget’s passing, Spitzer said he was pleased with the outcome with regard to school aid, tax breaks and insuring uninsured children. Spitzer even called the budget a personal victory at his press conference broadcast on CBS WTVH-5.

‘We’re thrilled at the timeliness of the budget,’ he said. ‘We had enormous policy successes.’

Not everything went smoothly for the Budget Commission, as it nearly missed the deadline, which caused tension among commission members.

Diana Fortuna, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, described the budget as containing too large of an increase from 2006-2007 to 2007-2008.

‘The rush to pass legislation before the public or even lawmakers have a chance to consider it is a continuation of business as usual,’ she said. ‘The budget process is still a mess.’

To ensure that the budget’s passing was not delayed after the midnight, April 1 deadline, Spitzer sped up the process by issuing Messages of Necessity to thousands of pages of bills. After a tie-up at the printer, the budget was officially passed.

Legislators also provided funding for an additional 100 charter schools and a new accountability measure that Spitzer will oversee, said Joseph Bruno, Senate majority leader, at a press conference.

‘The budget achieves the goals set out by the Senate Majority to increase school aid and distribute it fairly,’ Bruno said.

The new budget also distributes money through a new formula. The Foundation Formula will provide money to needy school districts, as opposed to providing more money to larger schools based solely on enrollment.

‘Most districts weren’t expecting the raise, so it will enable them to do more with the money,’ Dutkowsky said.

New York’s budget will also give back to the community with tax cuts, as Spitzer and the legislators agreed to provide $1.3 billion in property tax relief, which would double last year’s cuts, according to the budget.

Lawmakers also agreed to expand Child Health Plus, which is a state-financed insurance program for 400,000 previously uninsured children.

Published on April 2, 2007 at 12:00 pm