New York’s Money Drain

ALBANY, NY boost energy and wellness flush prices have been slowly creeping their way up the city of capital of New Yorks annual budget, livelihood a nationwide trend towards high state expenditures on these basic tolls.Mayor Gerald D. Jennings, in his enunciate of the City Address to the Albany common council mentioned the costs currently appropriated in Albanys budget. Expenses such as realm pension payments and wellness insurance expenses for employees, utility expenses and the like continue to be a challenge, he said.Residents of Albany wont have to fear a deficit or higher city taxes just yet, since according to Jennings, Section 19-a payments, which come from the state of modern York, currently offset these increases in city expenditures.Weve succeeded in this regard largely because of the successful efforts to obtain and increase the State payment in lieu of taxes on the Empire State Plaza our Section 19-a payments, the mayor said. During 2006 and again for 2007 thr ough 2010 our 19-a payments volition total $22,850,000.For the state of virgin York, however, the problem is mirrored, albeit in a much larger scale.The State and the hail of HealthCurrently, the state capital Albany allocates fifteen per centum of its annual budget of around $clxxv million on health insurance expenditures for its employees, or around $27 million annually. Employees of the local governing are in pretty good shape however, compared to their private sector counterparts, where employers are veneer a rough choice on how to face the escalating cost of health care.Yet New York is again facing a bowdlerize in health care spending, ushered in by then-incumbent Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who had previously proposed a $1.3 billion, cut in the expense last year. Gov. Spitzer resigned last March after an unrelated prostitution scandal, which left the negotiation with the health care lobby hanging. Before Spitzer left, discussions about the cut in health care run this year wer e already ongoing.In a New York Times interview, Dennis P. Whalen, Spitzers deputy secretary for health, commented on the change of mood. I think you can see already that the level of discussion and reaction is diametrical this year than it was last year, said Whalen. Weve been engaged in productive discussions with hospitals about these changes that were pursuing.While health care budgets are being cut, health insurance has been growing at a steadily majestic rate in recent years. In 2007, nationwide averages for health insurance premiums increased by 6.1 percenttwo times the rate of inflation.For employees insurance, the state isnt so much squeezed as much as small businesses are. Private employers are taking the brunt of the action, especially with state mandated benefits which in New York cover more than 30 different instances. According to the Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care, New Yorkers pay 26 percent more than the national average for health care.The Alliance is also pointing fingers at the proposed 2008-09 budget plan for the state, which includes a $140 million increase in the Covered Lives Assessmenta surcharge paid on every insurance constitution and premium tax on some health insurers, which the Alliance claims bequeath ultimately be borne by consumer.With small and medium businesses in New York struggling to provide health insurance insurance coverage and state leaders who have called for expanding health insurance coverage to all New Yorkers, it doesnt make sense to propose taxes that depart make it even harder for business to offer coverage at all, said Alliance chair Jeff Leland.It all makes for a sticky situation, but another electric potential headache for legislators is simmering within New Yorks extensive power supply gridRising EnergyLast winter, Gov. Spitzer announced additional emergency home heating assistance to New Yorks most vulnerable residents. That winter, qualified applicants through the Home Energy Assistanc e Program (HEAP), a federally funded program, issued benefits to more than 719,000 families, totaling more than $178 million.The government subsidizing energy costs is inevitable however, with the way energy prices are going. Residents of New York have long paid some of the highest electricity prices in the United States. According to a blimpish think tank, New York should reconsider some of its most ambitious energy policies to keep costs down.The study, NY Unplugged? create Energy subject and Curbing Energy Rates in the Empire State, was released in March by the Empire Center for New York State Policy, which is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.New York will need a lot more powerthe equivalent of more than five new 500-megawatt generating plantsto forefend blackouts early in the next decade, said the study. Yet only one new large-scale generating plant, representing unless one-eighth of the required additional capacity, has been proposed in the state si nce the expiration five years ago of term X, the landmark state law designed to speed the building of such facilities.Donald LaVada, director of marketing and training at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, said energy spending in New York tops $53 billion annually, and 85 percent of the energy used is imported into the state. And half(a) of it comes from OPEC nations. With oil heading towards $120 a barrel, energy spending has nowhere to go but up.The cost to the local government remains a drain for taxpayer money. Back in Albany, the 2008 has appropriated around $33 million for operating expenses, the majority of which will go pay for energy consumption by the city. A policy change, however, remains to be seen in the countrys third largest state.R E F E R E N C E SPeters, Jeremy W. (2008). Time Runs Short to Decide Albany Health Care Cuts. The New York Times. February 22, 2008.A Better Albany. (2007). State of the City Address by Mayor Gerald D. Jennin gs of Albany New York. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http//www.albanyny.gov/Government/MayorsOffice/StateOfTheCity.aspxGovernor Spitzer Announces Additional Heating Assistance to armed combat Rising Energy Prices. (2008). Division of Housing & Community Renewal, New York State. Retrieved May 2, 2008NY Unplugged? Building Energy Capacity and Curbing Energy Rates in the Empire State. (2008). Empire Center for New York State Policy. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http//www.empirecenter.org/Special-Reports/2008/03/NYUnplugged.cfmProposed Budget Increases Costs to Small Business. (2008). Alliance Alert. The Employer Alliance for Affordable Healthcare. Retrieved May 2, 2008 fromhttp//www.employeralliance.com/images/Newsletter_spring08.pdf