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November 2, 2005
To the Editor,
New York State already overtaxes its residents and businesses. So why
are state legislators pushing Proposal One on this year’s ballot?
In a nutshell, legislators are pushing
Proposition One to wrestle control of the spending process away from the
governor and funnel even more taxpayer dollars to the special interests
that contribute to their campaigns.
In the event the governor and
legislator do not agree on a budget, Proposition One enables legislators
to take over the budget process. New York governors borrow, tax, and
spend too much, but their borrowing, taxing and spending pales compared
with legislators.
When the foxes design a security
system for the hen house, on the surface the hens have a new security
system. However in practice, the foxes actually gain better access to
the hen house. Proposition One may seem harmless and the existing
budget process dysfunctional, but fiscal-policy and government experts
on the left and right agree that Proposition One would worsen things in
Albany.
State law now denies legislators
paychecks until they get a budget done. That's only fair; most of us
don't get paid if we don't do our work. But Proposition One would
eliminate that requirement. Lawmakers would get paid regardless of how
late the budget is adopted. That’s reform?
Real reform includes: 1) Enacting
Voter Initiative, 2) Apolitically Drawn Voting Districts, 3) Citizen
Based Campaign Finance, 4) Assembly & Senate Rule Reforms, 5)
Benchmarking New York’s Performance Relative to Other States, 6)
Performance Based Representative Compensation, 7) Spending Limitations
8) Consolidation of Local Governments, 9) Strengthening Inner City and
Rural Schools, and 10) Competitively Priced Electricity for Residents
and Businesses.
Former Governors Carey and Cuomo,
Governor Pataki, Attorney General Spitzer, Citizens Union, the National
Federation of Independent Business, the Business Council of New York
State, and the Citizens Budget Commission all urge a "No" vote on
Proposal One on Election Day. I agree. We need real reform in Albany,
but Proposal One isn't it.
Sincerely,
Mark Bitz
Plainville Turkey Farm,
Baldwinsville, New York
Mark is author of Creating a
Prosperous New York State, which will be published in early 2006 and
creator of the
www.FreeNYS.org website.
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