ALBANY – Gov. Pataki had more bad news for Mayor Bloomberg and legislative leaders yesterday, saying the state’s fiscal picture may be $500 million worse then expected.
Pataki announced that state revenues had dropped more than expected during January and February.
His revelation came a day before state lawmakers planned to contend there’s at least $300 million more than the governor says is available to spend in his proposed $88.6 billion state budget.
Pataki’s budget director, Carol Stone, put the shortfall at as much as $500 million, although she cautioned that some of that may be the temporary result of taxes on delayed Wall Street bonus payments.
The state is trying to grapple with the loss of billions of dollars in anticipated revenue because of the severe economic downturn resulting, in part, from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Pataki, meanwhile, met twice on the budget with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), but no progress was made.
Another meeting is planned for today.
State lawmakers, who have repeatedly clashed in the past with Pataki over the budget, are seeking to add hundreds of millions of dollars to his spending proposal in such areas as education, health care and economic development.
Mayor Bloomberg has repeatedly said he hopes Pataki can find additional state funds to deal with the city’s own revenue shortfall.
New York’s fiscal year begins April 1, but Pataki has had repeated difficulty winning a budget accord with the Legislature.
New York has not had an on-time budget for the past 17 years, and legislative insiders said privately they expect this year’s budget to be late as well