Brennan: Spitzer Will Delay CFE Funding, Seek $1 Billion in Healthcare Cuts

Democratic Assemblyman Jim Brennan spoke last night to the Stonewall Democratic Club in Manhattan as part of his campaign to become city comptroller.

Brennan predicted that to help close the looming five billion dollar state deficit, when Eliot Spitzer presents his budget in January, he will delay implementation of the provisions required by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court decision (which sends millions of dollars to New York City schools) for a year or two, seek to reduce healthcare spending by about a billion dollars, and fail to produce money to prevent fare hikes. Because the governor is already under pressure to stick to his promise not to raise taxes, Brennan is concerned about what the budget problems will do to “public sector needs."

Afterwards, Brennan told Liz and me that he personally would support increasing taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year, and noted a similar tax increase was easily passed by the legislature under Republican George Pataki, even though the governor tried to veto it.