CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Here’s Gov. David Paterson’s budget plan in a nutshell:

To save $630 million, Paterson is ordering a 7 percent state agency cut, on top of the 3.35 cut he’s already enacted in the budget.

Then he’s calling for an “immediate hard hiring freeze,” with all hires needing Division of Budget Approval.

Then when the Legislature comes back, he’ll be looking for $1.2 billion in savings, including $600 million tht will require legislative approval (that’s where the fight will likely occur since he could be talking about school aid and Medicaid cuts)

During the Aug. 19 special session, Paterson will call for the property tax cap, which he’s dubbing Help for Working Familes (I wonder how the Working Families Party which opposes a straight out cap, feels about that)

He’s also calling for more home heating aid and “public private” partnerships for capital needs but they are precluding the outright sale of assets.

Not off the table, though are cuts to school aid.

Here’s a link to the budget projections.