Gov. Paterson

A new Siena poll out today shows some bad numbers for both Gov. Paterson and Senator Gillibrand.

Fifty-one percent of voters said Gillibrand's appointment was OK with them, and upstaters are particularly pleased (63-19) by her pick, but name recognition continues to be her biggest problem.

With the senate and assembly meeting today, it will be interesting to see what ends up being cut from the budget. One big cut that  David Paterson is proposing is to cut finding to our SUNY and CUNY schools. This cut will end up bringing with it a 17% increase in tuition next semester. While we wish tuition didn't have to go up, we realize that it is a needed way to keep our SUNY system strong.

Today Governor Paterson announced some of the budget cuts and increases in fees that he will try and get passed. Here is some of what he is proposing:

• Scaling back Medicaid spending growth from 2 percent to 1 percent. (Projected savings: $572 million this year, $1.2 billion next year).
• Scaling back education spending growth from 9 percent to 5 percent.