ALBANY – Gov. Paterson warned today that he’s considering everything from furloughs to layoffs to delayed payment state bills as he faces a recalcitrant Legislature unwilling to cut state spending.
To emphasize his point, Paterson also released a letter from Moody’s Investors Service warning that the state’s credit rating could be downgraded unless actions are taken to reduce what the governor says is a looming $3.2 billion deficit.
“Furloughs, layoffs, borrowing, downgraded credit ratings, delayment of payments to schools, delayment of payments to local governments, delayed payments to service providers, delayed payments to the workforce,’’ said Paterson, a day after state lawmakers skipped out of the Capitol after rejecting the governor’s call for cuts.
Moody’s warned, meanwhile, that the state’s current bond rating may be reduced if no action is taken, saying, “The next three months will be critical to the state’s credit rating…. If there is no action taken by the state to close the gap, or if action is taken but is largely one-time in nature (therefore increasing the structural imbalance in the out years,) and revenue collections in January are close to or below state projections, the state’s situation at that time would likely not be consistent with (the current) Aa3 rating and (a) stable outlook.’’
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