New York state legislature passes draconian budget cuts

The legislature passed a 6 percent reduction in services, including $141 million in cuts to health care. This includes a reduction to Medicaid funding, which services the health needs of poor people, by $127 million.

The state cuts in payments to hospitals and nursing homes will be especially painful, due to the reduction in matching funds from the federal government.

There will also be a $97 million cut in aid to local governments for various health services, such as nutritional programs. The annual inflation-based increases for Medicare, the health care program for the elderly, have been capped, and this is expected to reduce spending by about $170 million every year.

There will also be a 7 percent reduction to the New York City university system, totaling $51 million, and cuts to various projects in the legislators districts, totaling $50 million

Immediately after the special session, the governor employed his own authority to make another round of cuts totaling $630 million. This included reducing the budget of the State University of New York system by $96 million and cutting the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund by $41 million. He was able to do this by reducing state agency spending by 7 percent. This is in addition to his decision earlier this year to cut agency funding by 3.35 percent for a total spending reduction of $500 million, which was then followed by his decision to implement a state hiring freeze on June 30.