Assemblyman Dave McDonough (R,C,I – Merrick) emerged from last night’s meeting with Governor Paterson with the knowledge that New York could be broke by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, due to a lack of revenue into state coffers. Governor Paterson told members of the Assembly Minority Conference that since state revenue could be short by as much as $2.1 billion for payments schedule to be made by month end. The governor said he was seeing suggestions for ways to decrease state spending in both the short and long term.

“It is disheartening that, because of years of reckless spending and delaying opportunities to implement cost-saving measures, our once great state has been lowered to the sad position where it literally may be out of cash and unable to pay its bills,” said Assemblyman McDonough. “What is not surprising is that Governor Paterson looked to the Assembly Minority Conference for ideas. Our conference is always out there first to offer solutions and usually the only conference to offer carefully thought out suggestions. If this news does not make every single member of the legislature stop to think about the fact that the fate of our state could very well be decided in the next two weeks, then what we have on our hands is not only a fiscal crisis, but a failure to recognize reality in Albany.”

The governor called for a meeting with the Assembly Minority Conference less than a week after Lieutenant Governor Ravitch put forth a five-year budget restructuring plan which calls for increases in borrowing to ease New York’s fiscal pain. The governor, who answered questions for more than an hour, was open to all suggestions for cost-cutting measures and stressed that legislators must now look for short- and long-term solutions.

“Although there is clearly a need for quick action, we must be sure not to rush into making a bad situation worse through bad public policy,” warned Assemblyman McDonough. “The need for budget conference committees will now be more important than ever and as the Assembly Minority appointee to the Transportation Committee, I will be sure to bring all ideas to the table, regardless of how much money it saves, because every dollar must be stretched like never before.”