New York State Assemblyman Jim Hayes addressed the Political Science Undergraduate Student Association last Monday, discussing the need for New York state to draft its budget on time and increase funding for SUNY.
Hayes is currently the ranking minority member on the Assembly Banks Committee and a member of the Higher Education Committee, in addition to representing the 148th district, which encompasses part of Buffalo's University District and several surrounding communities.
During the discussion, Hayes voiced his concern over the state legislature's inability to come to an agreement on where government should allot its funds.
"Over the last 18 years, New York State has failed to adopt a budget on time," said Hayes.
The constitution requires states to settle their budgets by April 1 of the fiscal year. Under the current law, if this does not occur, pay is then withheld from legislators until the budget is resolved. Hayes said this approach is not effective in deferring budget delays.
"Mrs. Hayes is very upset with me when I come home after two weeks with no paycheck," he said. "(The current budget policy) has put the reform effort on the back of individual legislators, and that, in my opinion, is not where the reform needs to take place."
He said it is difficult to reach a compromise when 211 legislators from the Assembly and Senate are all advocating different issues, like educational funding or tax cuts, but Hayes is in favor of New York adopting the "On Time, Every Time" budget policy currently in effect in many New York cities and towns. Under this plan, if no budget is adopted by the deadline, the governor's plan is put into effect by default.
Hayes said he realizes this is "something no one will want," because the governor's allotted funding would most likely fail to meet legislators' expectations, but it would force legislators to make changes in a more timely fashion.
"We, as legislators, are creatures of spending," Hayes said. "We represent districts, we represent interests, we represent people who send us to Albany to fight for our communities."
He said that legislators would push harder under his proposed plan, as they could avoid the limitations a governor's budget would place on them.
One obstacle to passing a budget, said Hayes, is that the governor has line-item veto authority. This means he can deny funding in any area of the proposal he sees fit, without rejecting the budget as a whole. To overturn his vetoes, two-thirds of the legislature must vote against the cuts.
This is a difficult feat to accomplish with legislators encompassing such a large field of interest, he said. Last year's budget was not passed until the first week in August.
Gov. George Pataki made it clear he would veto any plan that went over the monetary level he allotted, said Hayes. Legislators could not agree on where to shift the priorities and attempted a delay so the governor would change his mind.
"Opinion polls in this state prove that as the budget drags on longer and longer, the people in this state blame the governor," he said.
When Pataki would not budge after several months, the legislature finally used what Hayes termed "reverse psychology" and adopted a bare-bones budget. This budget allowed for no increase from the prior year. Legislators assumed this would cause an uproar among citizens and that the governor would subsequently agree to higher spending, said Hayes.
Legislators "hope(d) students and people in health care (would) get upset," Hayes said. "Can you think of a more ridiculous way to run a budget? I can't."
After the bare-bones budget was adopted, the plan backfired due to the impact of Sept. 11, which proved a huge blow to the state economy because the majority of state taxes come from New York City. Billions of dollars continue to be lost because of the destruction, said Hayes.
This affects students because the large hole in this year's budget allows only flat funding for SUNY. Each year, the cost of living and doing business continue to rise.
"Even when you're given the same amount of money as you were last year, that's technically a cut," said Hayes.
The assemblyman said it is crucial for the state to invest in education, and budget priorities should include keeping SUNY tuition at $3,400, working to raise the amount and availability of Tuition Assistance Programs to students, and allotting additional funding for the Educational Opportunity Program.
"One thing we all know is the more education you have, the more money you're going to make. . If you stay in New York state, the more money you make, the more money you're going to have to pay in taxes."
He also encouraged students to voice their opinions in matters like education funding and voter participation.
"The squeaky wheel gets the oil," he said.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
