Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York, has suggested a 1 year salary freeze for all state employees in order to assist with budget management. Additionally, the state laid off 900 employees on New Year’s Eve. (What a bummer for those folks!) These ideas (AZ and NY) are not profound; they are tried and true methods of saving money in order to relieve a budget deficit. The simple fact is that states are spending more than they are receiving in taxes and other funding. In the current economy, no answer is a good one and each answer or method of helping resolve state budget pinches will affect a group of stakeholders. Is there a way to share the burden? Cuomo’s suggestion certainly spreads the burden over the stakeholders who can be identified as NY State employees. But this is a small portion of NY’s population. What is the answer?
