“Today the governor presented his executive budget proposal for the coming year and, similar to last week’s State of the State speeches, he simply reiterated his unrealistic and out- of-touch policy wish list. The current fiscal policy is not sustainable. I would like to remind the governor that federal “negligence” did not cause the $6.5 billion deficit that existed before the coronavirus outbreak. 

“Be that as it may, the biggest issue with Gov. Cuomo’s proposed executive budget is that it increases spending and relies solely on the federal government providing nearly $15 billion in funding to work. Issues of mismanagement and excessive spending that led to the out-of-control budget deficit in the MTA are not going to be solved by a federal bailout. We need to be sitting down and figuring out meaningful ways to balance the budget and cut spending, not holding our hand out to Washington and hoping for salvation. The governor also pointed out that New York is a top donor to the federal government.Likewise, Long Island is a top donor to the state government. We need a sound fiscal policy to right the state’s budget, and a balanced budget from Gov. Cuomo.”