Bulletin #2: April 26, 1999
Just The Facts: New York State is a leader in spending
This year's debate over the state budget boils down to one key question: How much
should spending go up in the coming year?
The health-care lobbyists, the education establishment and others are hoping the answer
is several multiples of the inflation rate. That seems hard to justify. At a time when our
population is barely growing, why should the cost of government grow more than the
cost of goods and services?
And a big spending increase becomes virtually impossible to justify when you look at
the huge amounts of taxpayer money already being spent in New York.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently issued its authoritative report on state and local
spending for every state in the nation. Here in New York, such spending totaled $7,990
as of 1996. We rank 2nd among the states, and more than 50 percent above the national
average. Other major industrialized states spend far less than we do: California, $5,876
per capita; Michigan, $5,115; Pennsylvania, $5,006; Ohio, $4,926. All of those states
provide decent health care, sound education and other public services - at costs far
lower than ours.
Health, education, welfare costs: All are high in New
York
What about New York? Where does all the money go? Well, our Medicaid spending is far and
away the highest in the country - more than double the national average, on a per-capita basis.
Our schools spend $9,812 per student, some 50 percent above average. Welfare spending in New
York is $1,377 per capita, 89 percent above average.
These and other key statistics appear in Just
The Facts, the latest report from The
Public Policy Institute (the research arm of The Business Council).
Just The Facts also shows that combined state and local taxes in New York remain the nation's
highest, even though we've been leading the nation in tax cuts in recent years. Those high taxes
really aren't a surprise, given our incredibly high level of spending.
And, given our high taxes, it's also no surprise that we're still not matching
the nation's job growth. Just The Facts
has those numbers, too. (If you haven't received your copy yet, call The Public
Policy Institute at 518/465-7511.)
We need to restrain spending, so we can continue cutting taxes, so we can grow jobs. That's just
the facts.
