Good Tuesday morning. Here’s a look at opinion content published today in The Journal News:
Cuomo’s budget: Editorial
We comment on the tentative state budget deal brokered by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The spending plan’s restraint sets a tone we hope Albany can maintain. We write:
… There is reason to cheer, as the agreement would reduce spending by 2 percent, the first time since 1995 — when Bill Clinton was in his first term — that Albany managed a year-to-year decline in state outlays. Smiles may be in shorter supply in the days ahead as full details of the accord become clearer.
There is no way to eliminate a $10 billion deficit, as the governor and legislative leaders apparently have, without hitting bone — that is, eliminating or reducing funding for a bevy of valuable programs, along with the livelihoods of many New Yorkers. But Cuomo’s full-speed-ahead approach to budget negotiations, with a Legislature usually allergic to tough decisions, has been just the right medicine in a post-recession era of recalibration. …
Public employees: Commentary
Joseph Gorman, a resident of Larchmont, replies to a March 12 Commentary by Barry Goldman that defended public employees. Gorman argues that public employees will have to sacrifice in the days ahead.
More opinion
Here’s what our colleagues at other New York newspapers are saying about the budget deal:
And now comes the budget pain: Editorial, Albany Times Union
A responsible way forward: Editorial, The Buffalo News
Some reforms, but the job’s not done: Editorial, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Triumph and challenge for Cuomo: Editorial, Daily News
Surprise budget deal a win for New York: Editorial, Newsday
New Yorkers get the budget they wanted: Editorial, Times Herald-Record
A sound budget: Editorial, Watertown Daily Times
We must find new ways to do old things: Editorial, Utica Observer-Dispatch
