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Unshackle Upstate position on Governor’s deficit reduction proposal – It’s a start
October 19, 2009

Unshackle Upstate issued a response today to Governor Paterson’s proposed $5 billion, 2-year Deficit Reduction Plan, which I want to share with you, as I believe it’s very much on the mark. While our coalition has some different views on specifically how the state’s $4.1 billion budget deficit should be addressed, we think he is absolutely right in proposing widespread cuts – and doing so now. As the Partnership and Unshackle Upstate asserted earlier this year while the state legislature was passing March’s Deficit Reduction Plan and then the ill-advised 09/10 enacted state budget – the deficit can not be addressed with increased taxes, fees, etc.

I encourage you to join the conversation. Until the state legislature acts, the governor’s proposal remains only that – a proposal. To date, the state legislature does not seem to understand the severity of the situation. In fact, legislative leaders have been eerily quiet in the face of unsustainable state government spending. Thus, I urge you to send a message to state legislators that increased taxes are unacceptable, and that their silence is equally as offensive.

Andrew J. Rudnick