Family Life

11.21.11 | Bob Price

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo planned an emergency budget meeting of his top advisers as the special deficit-reduction supercommittee appears set to admit failure in Washington, according to an administration official.

The state official said New York could lose as many as 155,000 jobs and billions in dollars in aid to schools and health care services because federal budget cuts would tear into state and local jobs funded by Washington. The state official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said inaction by the supercommittee is a "game changer" in New York, where Cuomo and the Legislature earlier this year addressed a $10 billion deficit and cut spending.

State tax revenues are expected to be cut deeply once Wall Street reacts to the supercommittee's apparent failure. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because Cuomo hasn't yet announced his plan to contend with fallout from the supercommittee.

The special deficit-reduction supercommittee was directed to find $1.2 trillion in cuts over the coming decade in action forced by the uncontrolled federal debt. But the 12-member panel is sputtering to a close after two months and Monday is their deadline. The panel has until Wednesday to approve a deficit-slashing plan, but under its rules, any plan would have to be released 48 hours in advance and congressional members have said no agreement is in sight.

The Cuomo administration official said the state Division of Budget is already running "a series of scenarios" that would account for billions of dollars in federal aid losses. New York depends on the federal government for nearly $40 billion a year, or about 30 percent of the total state budget. Wall Street revenues including income taxes on lucrative bonuses issued at the end of each year account for about 20 percent of state revenues.

Federal aid is a major component of funding for schools, Medicaid health care programs for the poor and working poor, construction on public projects, and funds more than 670,000 total jobs statewide representing $32 billion in wages, Cuomo said in a letter Friday to New York's congressional delegation.