Senator Murphy Reacts to the Governor's Proposed Budget

ALBANY, NY - Today Governor Andrew Cuomo presented his proposed budget for 2018-2019. New York State is facing a $4 billion budget deficit that lawmakers will now spend the next three months trying to balance. 

Senator Murphy said:
"Looking past the political rhetoric that is meant more for a Presidential stump speech, New York has very serious fiscal concerns that we must address.  
A budget totaling more than $153 billion should be more than enough to effectively run New York State.  I have heard from residents across my district that they are taxed enough as it is.  We need to take a hard look at our State's spending habits rather than find new ways to generate revenue sources on the backs of homeowners and businesses in the form of new taxes and fees.  Even the Governor acknowledged that by honoring the self imposed 2% spending cap we would reduce the deficit from $4 billion to $1.7 billion.
Additionally, we had another major platform for the Governor to address the perils of the potential Indian Point closure and he ignored the issue again.  Our communities are looking at a $450 million revenue loss and deserve a concrete plan on how he believes it should be addressed.
There is no doubt we have a lot of work to do.  Political posturing cannot stop the progress we have made in recent years.  From tackling the heroin epidemic, to properly funding our public schools, to fixing our crumbling roads and infrastructure, we have our work set out for us.  As always, I stand ready to work with my colleagues and the Governor to make the changes New Yorkers deserve."