Cuomo to detail $130B NYS budget plan

As Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo prepares to release his proposed 2012-13 budget next week, some details of the $130 billion spending plan are becoming clearer -- including what an official said yesterday will be another round of agency spending cuts.

In a meeting of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Chairwoman Janet DiFiore said all agencies are cutting spending 2.5 percent as she discussed what that means for the commission's $3 million budget.

The state Division of Budget said the notice to cut was first sent to agencies on Oct. 31, but was meant to be a guide in requesting, analyzing and crafting budgets, not a hard order, said Division of Budget spokesman Morris Peters.

He said figures won't be released until Tuesday, when Cuomo presents his second annual budget proposal to the legislature.

Last year, Cuomo and the legislature made a slight but rare cut in state spending to address a $10 billion deficit, the latest in a string of deficits that forced deep cuts in state agencies in previous years.

Agencies including the public university systems have been cut for three years during the recession amid reduced state revenues, with a total 30 percent loss for the State University of New York.

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher earlier this week floated the idea of taking 5 percent from traditional funding for all campuses and turning it into a competitive grant program aimed at innovations in operations and instruction.

Cuomo favors competitive grants and has already used the idea to distribute some school aid and economic development grants and tax breaks to 10 regions in the state.