Cuomo readying to implement budget cuts

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is preparing to put his budget in place if legislators fail to agree with him on a fiscal plan by the April 1 deadline, administration officials said Wednesday.

The first-term Democrat has said previously that if he and lawmakers can't reach a budget deal by April 1 -- the beginning of the new fiscal year -- he'll insert spending cuts into emergency spending bills.

That would give the legislature the choice of either agreeing to his terms or shutting down state government.

With the deadline three weeks away and no consensus emerging on cuts to Medicaid and schools, the administration has begun to prepare for the possibility that no agreement will be reached.

"Either they pass a budget with [Cuomo's] core principles or we go to the extenders on April 2," an official said.

Former Gov. David A. Paterson, Cuomo's predecessor, won a case giving a governor the power to impose his budget through emergency spending measures.

Paterson then filed extenders to keep government running for weeks at a time as he tried to negotiate the stalemate with legislators. In a similar situation, Cuomo is planning to offer extender bills that cover a shorter time period.

Cuomo has vowed to oppose any new broad-based taxes and to break the state's trend of annual Medicaid spending increases.

He's also proposed to reduce school spending 7 percent and cut the overall budget by $3.7 billion. And he's vowed to oppose any renewal of the so-called millionaires' tax -- even if legislators propose raising the tax threshold.

Currently, the tax applies to individuals earning more than $200,000 and families earning $300,000. It is set to expire Dec. 31. Rank-and-file legislators have floated the idea of raising the threshold to $500,000 or even $1 million.

Cuomo has said he would oppose any renewal of the tax -- even if the threshold were raised.