New York Gov. Spitzer Criticizes President Bush's Budget Proposal

President Bush's proposed budget would hurt New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said yesterday as he met with the state's congressional delegation in Washington, D.C. According to the division of budget, New York stands to lose $1 billion of federal funding from cuts to health care, $250 million from social services cuts, and $200 million from homeland security cuts.

"President Bush has shown, through his misplaced priorities, that we cannot count on the White House for a federal budget that offers real solutions for the serious problems facing our state," Spitzer said in a press release. "As we weather this national economic slump, New York needs innovative solutions from Washington to help combat housing shortages, high energy and health care costs, security threats, and other serious challenges."

In an analysis of the president's budget, Spitzer criticized the Bush budget for increasing Pentagon spending while cutting back on domestic programs. The budget could imperil some state support to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority by using shifting federal mass transit funds toward the Highway Trust Fund, according to an analysis from Spitzer's office.

The president's budget met with sharp criticism from Jon Sheiner, general counsel to the house ways and means committee and assistant to Rep. Charles Rangel, who chairs the committee. The budget is "based on a fantasy that no member is going to support," Sheiner said. "[Rangel's] not looking at it as a realistic budget He's looking at it more as a political document."

The proposed budget would also sunset certain tax incentives put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and replace them with tax credits for capital spending on transportation in the New York Liberty Zone, an area that covers most of Manhattan south of Canal street.

New York City office of management and budget spokesman Raymond Orlando said that the city is still reviewing Bush's budget. q

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