“Having reviewed Governor Paterson’s recent Deficit Reduction Plan (DRP), I cannot help but think that the governor has wasted billions of dollars and too much time producing a plan that purports to reduce state spending but really just shifts costs to the county and local levels. During budget negotiations last March, I called upon the governor, Sheldon Silver and then-Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith to listen to ideas from the Assembly Minority Conference and produce a long-term plan to slow down state spending. Unfortunately, the minority’s considerations were left by the wayside, and now we find that New York faces a potential $4 billion deficit caused by a reckless $10.5 billion spending increase contained in this year’s budget despite the worst economic recession in decades.

“I think we should come back to Albany in the near future to work with the governor in a bipartisan manner so that we may reduce state spending and once again focus on producing the long-term solutions which the taxpayers of New York demand.”