New York state budget (2011-2012)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Note: This article was last updated in 2012. Click here for more recent information on state budgets and finances.


See also: Archived New York state budgets

The New York State Legislature passed the $132.5 billion state budget for FY 2012 on March 31, 2011. The state's fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 30.[1] The budget reduced spending by one percent.[1]

As of the end of October 2011, midway through its fiscal year, the state collected $584 million less in revenue than anticipated. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in November 2011 that the state budget had a shortfall of $350 million.[2]

Income Tax

The governor and lawmakers agreed to an overhaul of the state's income tax system in December 2011 which generated $1.9 billion in annual revenue. A surcharge expiring at the end of 2011 had been generating about $4 billion a year. Under the new plan, tax rates would range from 6.45 percent for income between $40,000 and $150,000 (for married couples) to 8.82 percent for income over $2 million. Tax brackets would be indexed to the rate of inflation and would take effect in 2012. The new top tax bracket would extend through 2014; the others would be permanent. A special session of the legislature began on December 8, 2011 to vote on the changes.[3]

State Budget

The FY 2012 enacted budget can be found here. Overall, total spending in the budget was 2.2 percent lower than FY 2011, or $1.4 billion less.[4]

New York's Fiscal Year 2012 began on April 1, 2011. The state faced a budget deficit of $9 billion before passing the budget that eliminated the deficit with spending cuts.[5][6] Under the agreement between the governor and lawmakers, overall spending decreased to erase a $10 billion deficit without raising taxes. The budget capped spending on education and cut government agencies, authorities and commissions by 20 percent.[7]

According to the Division of the Budget, the budget projections were on track through the first quarter of the fiscal year.[8] In the second quarter, tax revenues were nearly $400 million — or 1.2 percent — below forecasts. ”If these trends continue, the state may need to adjust its revenue projections downward,” said Comptroller DiNapoli.[4]

Education

Under the budget, public schools would receive six percent less funding in the 2011-12 school year.[1] The budget agreement kept state education spending flat at around $20 billion.[9]

The final budget restored $230 million to the $23 billion allotted for state spending on K-12. New York City schools' expected allocation of state aid of $6.2 billion was cut by $840 million.[10]

Medicaid

The budget limited Medicaid growth to four percent.[1] It capped annual Medicaid spending at $15.3 billion, reducing Medicaid spending by $2.8 billion.[11][10] It also capped Medicaid spending at $15.9 billion in 2012-2013.[12]

The governor created a Medicaid Redesign Team, which announced in October 2011 that it had saved nearly $600 million in savings in its first six months of existence, although the program enrollment had grown in that time period.[12] The governor's office said Medicaid spending was in line with projections but pointed to increasing enrollment as a fiscal risk.[13] The New York Medicaid system covered 4.96 million people, almost a quarter of the total state population, as of October 2011.[12]

Courts

The budget cut the court system by an additional $70 million, for a total of $170 million.[10] After the budget was passed, the state’s chief administrative judge instructed judges to close their courtrooms a half hour early to avoid paying overtime to court personnel such as court clerks and court officers.[14]

Other Spending Cuts

The budget includes the consolidation of the state's Banking and Insurance departments into a single agency to be known as the Department of Financial Services.[7]

Cuts included:

  • $170 million budget reduction for the Office of Court Administration[7]
  • 10 percent reductions in the budgets of the executive branch and the offices of the Attorney General and the Comptroller[7]
  • 10 percent budget cuts in nearly all state agencies[11]
  • $54 million in other miscellaneous cuts[7]
  • $1 billion or more of Medicaid cut targets[9]
  • $70 million in cuts to the state's court system.[15]


Governor's Proposed Budget

Gov. Cuomo presented his $132.9 billion proposed budget to the state legislature on Feb. 1, 2011.[16] Gov. Cuomo's budget proposed cutting $1.5 billion education and $1 billion Medicaid to close a $10 billion deficit.[16] He proposed no new or increased taxes.[16]

The 2011-12 Executive Budget Briefing Book can be found here.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Wall Street Journal, "New York State Passes Budget," March 31, 2011
  2. ↑ International Business Times, "Not There Yet: U.S. States Can't Meet Revenue Forecasts," November 24, 2011
  3. ↑ The New York Times, "Albany Tax Deal to Raise Rate for Highest Earners," December 6, 2011
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Wall Street Journal, "New York’s Sluggish Tax Trends Worry DiNapoli," October 19, 2011
  5. ↑ Bloomberg, "New York State Faces $315 Million Budget Deficit on Lower Tax Collections," November 1, 2010
  6. ↑ State of New York, "New York State Mid-Year Financial Plan Update 2010-11 through 2013-14," November 1, 2010
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 CNN.com, "N.Y. governor, legislature agree on state budget," March 28, 2011
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named wnyc
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Wall Street Journal, "Cuomo, Legislature Strike a Deal on Budget," March 28, 2011
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The New York Times, "Gov. Cuomo’s Budget," April 1, 2011
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Reuters, "NY legislature passes $132 billion budget, no new taxes," March 31, 2011
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Albany Times Union, "Medicaid overhaul saves $600M," October 6, 2011
  13. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "N.Y. Budget Gap Seen," October 28, 2011
  14. ↑ The New York Times, "State’s Judges Told to Shut Courtrooms Earlier to Cut Costs," April 6, 2011
  15. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "State Budget would Change Regulatory Landscape," March 30, 2011
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Yahoo! News, "Cuomo slashes spending, freezes taxes in NY budget," February 1, 2011
Flag of New York
v • e
State of New York
Albany (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=New_York_state_budget_(2011-2012)&oldid=9440345"