George Pataki on Budget & Economy Republican NY Governor

I shrank size of New York state government

Fed should get out of market & let rates go up

Slash job-killing regulations & cut taxes too

• Together, we've re-tooled our criminal justice system from top to bottom and turned New York from one of the nation's most dangerous states into the safest large state in America.

• Together, we've led the nation in cutting taxes, and put the money back into the pockets of working families, because after all, they know how to spend it best.

• Together, we've slashed job-killing regulations and strengthened our businesses' freedom to compete nationally and globally.

• Together, we've sown the seeds for tomorrow's economic prosperity by establishing Centers of Excellence to spur the innovations and investments that will make New York a powerhouse in the emerging global high-tech economy.

• Together, we've transformed the welfare system and in turn empowered more than one million New Yorkers to break out of the tragic cycle of dependency.

Cut taxes & cut spending

Bankruptcy reform: limit Chapter 7; protect states' role.

The Governors are particularly concerned that bankruptcy reform legislation address the following issues:
1. Prevent Chapter 7 Use by Those with the Ability to Pay: Present bankruptcy law does not prevent use of Chapter 7 by those with ability to repay, nor does it require that debtors use Chapter 13, which would require them to repay creditors what the debtor can afford. The Governors strongly support federal efforts to prevent debtors from using Chapter 7 when they are financially able to pay some or all of their unsecured debts.
2. Encourage Payment of Domestic Support Obligations: Bankruptcy interferes significantly with states’ ability to assist citizens owed domestic support and to collect unpaid domestic support owed them. The Governors strongly encourage Congress to ensure that any federal bankruptcy reform requires that domestic support obligations have the highest possible repayment priority, that all domestic support obligations be nondischargeable, and that commencement of bankruptcy not prevent the continued collection of child and other support obligations.
3. Give State Claims Parity with Federal Claims in Bankruptcy: Today, bankruptcy rightly gives certain preferences in payment to federal claims against the bankruptcy estate, but similar treatment is not always accorded state claims. The Governors strongly support congressional efforts to reform the treatment of state claims in bankruptcy to provide parity of treatment with federal claims.
4. Protect the State Role: The Governors oppose efforts to preempt state authority to determine exemptions under state bankruptcy law. Currently, debtors have a right to choose between federal and state exemptions. The Governors support efforts to shape bankruptcy reform policy that protects the rights of states to determine their own standards instead of having uniform federal regulations imposed without regard for individual state needs.

Uphold commitments to states before other spending.

The Issue

NGA’s Position

Maintain & enforce existing spending caps in the future.

What we offer today are not the precise spending decisions of a given year's budget; rather, we call upon the Congress and the nation to adopt the following guidelines for our fiscal policy over the next decade. This long-term blueprint is essential for maintaining both the immediate public-sector goal of balancing the budget and the private-sector goal of a healthy economy. This can be achieved through the following steps:

• A commitment to maintaining and enforcing existing spending caps in the future, when such discipline becomes more difficult to achieve;
• A careful and considerate re-definition of the federal role in society (what should be the legitimate and proper role of the federal government in the twenty-first century, and how do we prioritize competing demands?); and
• An evaluation of implementing tax cuts based on their social fairness.