×

Borrello blasts Cuomo’s Medicaid stance

The rising costs of Medicaid is on the shoulders of New York state, not local officials who have little say in who can join the program. That’s according to state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, who criticized portions of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2021 fiscal budget proposal released on Tuesday.

“As a former county official, I found it insulting that the governor pointed the finger for rising Medicaid costs at local governments who he claimed simply take a ‘blank check’ from the state and do not work hard to find efficiencies,” Borrello said in a statement. “The reality is that local governments do a much better job at managing their budgets.”

“I also found the Governor’s claim that it is a ‘remarkable achievement’ that nearly a third of our population is on Medicaid to be alarming,” he continued. “As state leaders, we should want our citizens to be financially secure and independent. Those programs were originally intended to be a safety net, not a way of life.”

Borrello noted that as county executive, his yearly budget presentation focused on the county’s spending plan and not policy changes. He said he was also dismayed to learn New York began the year ranked No. 1 in population loss over the past 10 years.

However, Borrello said he is optimistic after hearing Cuomo’s support for the next phase of middle class tax cuts that are scheduled to drop again this year, as well as a proposed tax cut for small businesses.

“I am very supportive of the governor’s proposed cut in the corporate tax rate for small businesses, from 6.5% to 4%,” Borrello said.

EDUCATION FUNDING

Cuomo’s executive budget includes projections for education spending across the state as well. In the proposal, the governor announced an $826 million annual increase in school aid, which represents a bump of about 3%. Additionally, the proposal included $15 million for pre-kindergarten students ages 4 and 3 in order to increase access to high-need districts in an attempt to expand universal pre-kindergarten programming.

Dr. Bret Apthorpe, Jamestown Public Schools superintendent, said he is awaiting the release of more information on what Cuomo’s proposal could mean locally.

“It’s very romantic verbiage, but the devil is going to be in the details and we’ll wait to see what that is,” Apthorpe said on the governor’s remarks regarding funding high-needs school districts.

“I’m very cautiously optimistic only because it’s a song I’ve heard played before and we’ll see what the numbers say,” Apthorpe added.

Apthorpe said individual breakdowns of projected state aid for school districts is expected to be released soon.

Furthermore, the tentative budget includes a $257 million increase for higher education. The increase would bring the state’s total investment in higher education to $7.8 billion. For the State University of New York and City University of New York project funding, the budget proposal includes $1.5 billion in new appropriations for capital projects on campuses. Since 2012, the state has provided more than $12 billion in similar appropriations for SUNY and CUNY to maintain facilities.

The governor’s proposal also includes $10 million for Empire State After School awards to expand after school care in high-need communities; $6 million to create more early college high school programs with a specific focus on communities with low graduation or college access rates; and an increase of $50 million to expand high-need schools in to community schools that targets districts with failing schools.

The initial proposal left Chancellor Betty A. Rosa, Board of Regents chancellor, and Shannon Tahoe, State Education interim commissioner, hopeful about Cuomo’s proposed changes.

“Achieving educational equity for all children across the state has long been the number one priority of the Board of Regents and the Department,” Rosa and Tahoe said in a joint statement. “We are pleased the Governor shares this goal. State investments in education remain paramount to ensuring this goal is fully realized.”

Eric Tichy contributed to this story.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today