Monday’s Briefing: Paterson Plans A Speech

by Contributor | July 28, 2008 12:20 pm

Atop our roundup of news from around the state is word that the Governor wants to have a talk with all of us. And the news isn’t good.

Governor David Paterson says the state’s financial situation isn’t good, and getting worse. The New York Post’s Fred Dicker, dean of the Albany correspondents, reports exclusively that Paterson plans a TV address Tuesday night[1] to say he’s making big cuts.

Says Dicker:

“The governor’s address – which his aides hope will be televised by public and cable news stations – will say that plunging state revenues will force painful cuts in state services, necessitate a reduction in the state work force, possibly through layoffs, and require other difficult economic measures, source said.

Paterson is also expected to announce that he’s ordered state agencies to slash spending beyond the relatively modest 3.3 percent cuts he ordered in late spring.”

No other outlet’s reporting this as of noon Monday.

One reason why Paterson believes things are worse than predicted?  CEO bonuses are down[2], and that means state taxes on those massive bonuses are down.

Elsewhere:

• It could be a rare Friday at work for the State Senate[3] in August.
• The Chairman of the state Power Authority quits suddenly[4]. (That’s one of the two jobs that State Senator Darrel Aubertine was, or wasn’t, offered by the Governor’s office, or by no one at all.)
• $2 billion of your dollars for a new state emergency communications system….and it may not work[5].
• More of your tax dollars may be spent[6] to defend some of ex-Gov. Spitzer’s aides.
• The Syracuse Post-Standard argued that the State Police investigation into the death of Trooper David Brinkerhof should be made public (story’s nowhere to be found online).  Now, weeks after that article, the investigation’s been released[7].

Athletic Supporters:

• There’s a new high school sport[8].  Go!  Fight!  Skip!
• Tight school budgets put athletics under pressure[9].
• The DEC examines turf-rubber fields[10].

Apropos of Not Much:

• Singing your way across the Erie Canal[11].
• And how bad’s the budget at Fort Ticonderoga?  So bad, they’re selling pieces of the fort to save it[12].

Happy Monday, and if there’s a good story that we’ve missed, drop a note here.

[We take this moment to remind you that the Daily Briefing is neither straight news nor commentary, just in case you’re confused.  It’s simply a roundup of news from elsewhere, written in not-the-usual-style.]

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