Pataki Sharpens His Veto Pencil

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The New York Sun

ALBANY – State funding for hospitals, nursing homes, public universities, and the city of New York could go under the knife Friday morning when Governor Pataki is expected to announce his budget vetoes.


The governor’s aides were tightlipped about his plans yesterday, but Mr. Pataki could reject anything in the Legislature’s $101.3 billion budget that wasn’t part of his original $99.8 billion proposal.


The list of eligible line items includes $250 million in borrowing to subsidize efficiency projects at hospitals, $110 million in Medicaid rate increases for nursing homes, $150 million in extra capital funding for the City University of New York, and the first $170 million payment toward refinancing part of New York City’s debt.


The Republican governor all but promised to veto some parts of the budget last week, saying the Legislature’s plan “spends too much and reforms too little.”


He is not expected to go as far as last year, when he tried to cut $1.3 billion in spending and saw every one of his 119 vetoes overridden by the Democrat-led Assembly and the Republican-led Senate.


In particular, Mr. Pataki has promised not to veto the Legislature’s $740 million increase in school aid, which includes $300 million for New York City. He has also expressed support for other provisions added by lawmakers, including one that authorizes $400 property tax rebates for city homeowners, as requested by Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council. That still leaves hundreds of millions of dollars for Mr. Pataki to cut.


“We’re going to look at everything,” the governor said last week.


It’s unclear how the Legislature will respond. Assembly Democrats would undoubtedly support overrides, but the Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, might be reluctant to defy the governor in an election year. Lawmakers have until December 31 – well beyond Election Day – to make their final decision.


Among the spending items considered particularly vulnerable is a plan to borrow $250 million to pay for efficiency improvements at hospitals and other health-care facilities. It is a smaller version of a $1 billion proposal from the Greater New York Hospital Association and the labor union SEIU Local 1199.


“It’s something that we think has the potential to really, really help out the health care system and improve patient safety and quality in New York,” said the association’s senior vice president for government affairs, David Rich. “That’s the one we are really arguing on the merits should not be vetoed.”


Hospitals need the money to buy computer systems that will help them prevent medical mistakes, and to finance the closure and consolidation of facilities that are no longer needed, Mr. Rich said.


Mr. Pataki also has another chance to resist an expensive plan to refinance debt left over from New York City’s financial crisis of the 1970s. The plan calls for Albany to send the city $170 million a year until the 2030s.


As originally conceived by legislative leaders last year, it would save the city $2.5 billion over five years but cost the state $5.1 billion over 30 years.


The governor vetoed the refinancing plan last year and, when he was overridden, unsuccessfully tried to block the plan in court. The first annual payment still needs legislative approval, and Mr. Pataki refused to include it in his budget proposal or the temporary spending bills that kept the state running during the first four months of the fiscal year.


A spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, William Cunningham, said city officials are “hopeful” the $170 million payment will ultimately go through but declined to speculate on Mr. Pataki’s decision Friday.


“We’re content to await the outcome of the process and see what happens,” Mr. Cunningham said. “We’re never at rest until the process is complete, so we remain vigilant.”


The New York Sun

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