Like most adults, state Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Ind-Con-Gowanda, is familiar with the famous opening of Charles Dickens' novel, ''A Tale of Two Cities'' - ''It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ...''
But as far as Giglio is concerned, there is no ''best of times'' in New York.
''This is the worst of times in New York,'' Giglio said. ''This budget year is the culmination of years and years of bad budgets.
Giglio spoke at Friday morning's Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast. Also in attendance were state Sen. Cathy Young, R-Ind-Con-Olean, and state Assemblyman Bill Parment, D-North Harmony.
Each legislator spoke at length about the state's budget process, which is uncertain even in the best of times. It has been especially contentious this year - legislators have just 20 days to pass a balanced budget that confronts a $9 billion budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning April 1 and a $15 billion gap for the following fiscal year. Legislators must find both the time and focus to do so as controversy swirls around Gov. David Paterson and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch issued a budget plan of his own at the governor's request.
The plans are markedly different.
Paterson's $134 billion draft budget, which was released in January, makes dramatic cuts in spending on education, local government and health care while increasing state spending by six-tenths of a percent.
Ravitch's budget plan - which some have said amounts to a ''five-year rescue plan'' - proposes borrowing up to $2 billion a year for the next three years. It would create an independent financial review board, require significant spending cuts and abolish some of Albany's much-criticized budgeting practices.
''Now, hold on just a minute,'' Giglio said. ''We've got a governor - say what you will about him; he's still the governor - and a lieutenant governor whose appointment is, in my opinion, unconstitutional. We've got one state but two budget proposals, neither of which is good. So what happens now?''
Giglio said he disagrees with Ravitch's plan because it focuses on borrowing instead of ''honest cuts.''
''What we have to do is cut and consolidate and change the rules so opportunities exist in New York,'' he said. ''The Ravitch plan is nothing more than the same plan used as a bailout for New York City in the 1970s. We're in the mess we are because we follow the same procedures to get out of the mess that put us in it in the first place - taxing and borrowing. It can't happen that way. Not anymore. We need to change, no matter how difficult. We need to do it today.''
While Parment said Ravitch has ''been a problem solver most of his life,'' he said the lieutenant governor's plan is ''a bad way to go.''
''Our first reliance should not be on borrowing to cover operational deficits,'' he said. ''We've done it twice since I have been in the legislature and I've always opposed it. It's a bad way to go. I can't embrace Mr. Ravitch's plan to do it a third time.''
Instead, Parment said, legislators must decide between finding new revenue streams through taxes and fees or making additional cuts.
''I favor making cuts,'' he said. ''For example, the state judiciary budget has increased by 135 percent over 10 years. I think they're really out of control and need to be reined in. I'm probably the only legislator - that I'm aware of, anyway - who has made suggestions for additional cuts.''
For her part, Sen. Young said she had ''a lot of concerns'' about this year's state budget - most specifically that the process used to craft it will be the same as last year's ''three men in a room, in secret.''
''The process approved under the Budget Reform Act of 2007 isn't taking place,'' she said. ''Last year, three men in a room met in secret about the budget and came out with the heaviest, most massive increase in taxes and spending ever seen. When you've got a terrible process, you're going to end up with a terrible product.''
Sen. Young said she agrees with some parts of Ravitch's proposal - specifically his call to limit the budget document to fiscal language and abolish ''folding other, unrelated legislation into it'' and his proposal that the state legislature plan for several years in advance instead of budgeting year-by-year.
''But that's where my agreement ends,'' she said. ''(Ravitch's) plan basically says that the state Legislature can't cut the budget so we'll have to borrow money. To me, that's the same as surrendering. In this economic and fiscal crisis, we need to take this challenge head-on and implement real change.''
Ravitch's proposal to borrow $6 billion is ''a blank check, a line of credit without any kind of accountability,'' Sen. Young said.
''All it does is exacerbate New York's problems,'' she said. ''We have to turn it around. Instead of increasing taxes, fees and borrowing, let's increase businesses, jobs and enhance the private sector.''
