Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new budget plan included provisions that could have shifted as much as $800 million in costs related to CUNY and the city’s Medicaid program from the state to the city. But now the governor seems to be backing off in the face of protest from Mayor Bill de Blasio and others.
Cuomo’s $145 billion budget, presented with his State of the State address Wednesday, would have had New York City shoulder 30 percent of the cost of CUNY’s budget. Right now, the city pays virtually nothing to support CUNY.
The plan would have also required the city to cover the increases in the cost of the city’s Medicaid program, the New York Daily News reported. Put together, the CUNY
De Blasio pushed back fiercely against the proposals, calling the moves “harmful” and “debilitating. He vowed to sink the plan and cited civil rights leader Malcolm X:
“There’s a phrase from American history, ‘By any means necessary.’ I would invoke that phrase,” the mayor told the Daily News. “We’ll do whatever will work.
But by Thursday, Cuomo was already backtracking.
“This is the beginning of the budget process. The budget process goes on for months. This is really the beginning of the discussion,” the governor told NY1.
“At the end of the day, what you’ll see is it won’t cost New York City a penny,” Cuomo told the channel. “We have to reduce the cost of the bureaucracy at CUNY. We have to reduce the cost of administration for Medicaid.”
The battle is the latest in a string of face-off’s between the two politicians. [NYDN] – Ariel Stulberg