Maintaining New York's double-A range credit rating is a priority, Lieut. Gov. Richard Ravitch said hours after his appointment was ruled legal by the state's highest court yesterday.
The Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision that the July appointment by Gov. David Paterson violated the state constitution. The decision means that Ravitch will join the governor today at a legislative leaders meeting to address the $2.1 billion current-year deficit. Paterson called the decision to uphold his July 8 appointment "a victory for all New Yorkers."
"As we fight our way out of an historic economic crisis, Richard Ravitch's experience will prove to be invaluable," Paterson said in a statement.
Since his appointment, Ravitch, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has been looking at the state's finances to come up with a long-term fiscal recovery plan and recommendations on structural reform of the state's finances.
"The overwhelming issue is this growing deficit that the state faces," Ravitch said yesterday in a conference call with reporters. "Our revenues are sinking, our expenses are going up, and it's a sheer disaster for the public unless that trend is reversed."
He said that balancing the budget in order to maintain the state's credit rating was a top priority and that cuts to health care and education would be on the table. New York's general obligation credit is rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service, AA by Standard & Poor's, and AA-minus by Fitch Ratings.
"It's critically important to address these budget issues with the question of the state's credit very much in the forefront of our minds," Ravitch said. "Borrowing for capital purposes is critical - to the condition of our infrastructure, to economic development, to employment - and if we lose our ability to have the kind of track record that we've had in the bond market, I think we'll just compound our problems to a frightening degree."
Ravitch said New York has long been spending more money than it took in. "The prosperity of the last 10 years was based to a large degree on borrowed money and that's one of the main reasons why we're in the soup," he said.
The lieutenant governor's office has been vacant since Paterson ascended to the governorship following former Gov. Eliot Spitzere_SSRqs resignation last year. While the yesterday's ruling on Ravitch garnered cheers from some top Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, said in a statement that the ruling was "dangerous to democracy" and the law should be changed.
"The court has given new power and authority to an unelected governor where no such power had existed under the state constitution," Skelos said.
