Human Rights Awards on Anne Frank’s 80th Birthday

NEW YORK, NY: The Anne Frank Center USA will hold its 13th Annual Spirit of Anne Frank Awards on Monday, June 15, 2009, commemorating Anne Frank’s 80th birthday on June 12 and the 50th anniversary of the release of the film “The Diary of Anne Frank” in 1959. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will mark the occasion by issuing a 50th Anniversary DVD/Blu-ray of the Academy Award-winning film. The gala event, held at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, includes a reception, silent auction, dinner and awards ceremony. The awards recognize worthy students, educators and citizens who work to promote understanding, equality, and mutual respect among diverse groups.

Honorees include George Stevens Jr., who worked on the 1959 film “Diary of Anne Frank” with his father George Stevens. Mr. Stevens Jr. is honored for his commitment to making films that raise social consciousness and examine human values.

A $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to Sejal Hathi, a graduating senior at Notre Dame High School, Freemont, CA. Spirit of Anne Frank Educator Award recipients are Richard B. Jones, Principal, North Farmington High School, Farmington Hills, MI and Timothy J. Salem Assistant Principal, Danbury High School, Danbury, CT. Also receiving an Educator Award is Jesse Schmitt, a fifth grade teacher at Monrovia Elementary School, Huntsville, AL. The Outstanding Student Award goes to Tara Suri, a graduating senior at Edgemont Junior-Senior High School, Scarsdale, NY. The Outstanding Citizen Award will be given to Ellen J. Kennedy, Ph. D., Interim Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Honorary guests include actress Millie Perkins, who played Anne Frank in the 1959 movie production, as well as Diane Baker, who played Anne’s older sister Margot.

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The Spirit of Anne Frank Awards, with music by The Jazz Museum in Harlem All Stars, begins at 6 p.m., Monday, June 15, 2009, at The Pierre Hotel, 2 East 61 Street (between Fifth and Madison avenues), New York City.

The Anne Frank Center USA, a partner organization of the Anne Frank House, uses the diary and spirit of Anne Frank as unique tools to advance her legacy, to educate young people and communities about the consequences of intolerance, racism and discrimination, and to inspire the next generation to build a world based on mutual respect.

Tickets to the Gala Event may be purchased online at www.annefrank.com or by contacting Sandra Kulhay, Anne Frank Center, 38 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10013. email:   skulhay@annefrank.com; phone: 212.431.7993 ext. 307.

State Cuts Delay U.S. Benefits, Official Says

by Robert Pear

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country.

The official, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said Sunday that “governors are hurting their own states, their own citizens, and increasing the backlog of claims” by furloughing workers who make disability decisions.

“The states’ response is completely illogical,” Mr. Astrue said.

State officials have announced furloughs, layoffs and hiring freezes to help balance budgets battered by the recession.

Claims are evaluated by state employees, but the federal government reimburses states for the salaries of those employees and pays the full cost of benefits for people found to be disabled.

“We pay the full freight,” Mr. Astrue said. “States do not save any money when they furlough or lay off these employees. They only delay payments to disabled citizens who rely on the monthly benefits.”

The cutbacks come as disability claims are rising because of high unemployment, the weak economy and the aging of the baby boom generation.

The Social Security Administration expects nearly 3 million new disability claims this year, up from 2.6 million in 2008. Each month the agency pays $12 billion in disability benefits to more than 13 million people.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican, cited “an unprecedented fiscal crisis” in ordering state employees to take off two days a month without pay through June 2010.

Dr. C. Richard Dann, a California state employee who reviews claims for benefits, said, “Claimants are not getting the service they are supposed to get.”

Dr. Dann said he had to take off every other Friday. “I can review about 20 disability cases a day, and I am off two days a month,” he said. “So I do 40 fewer cases a month.”

Aaron B. McLear, a spokesman for Mr. Schwarzenegger, said: “The governor has not made exemptions to the furlough order because he believes that the state government needs to cut back, just as every California family and business is doing. We hope the furloughs have a minimal effect on state services, but understand that services very well may suffer.”

Mr. Astrue has expressed “grave concern” over such personnel actions in letters to governors, including Jon Corzine of New Jersey and David A. Paterson of New York, both Democrats, and Mr. Schwarzenegger.

In a letter to New York employees last week, Mr. Paterson said he intended to lay off 8,700 state workers by July 1.

Peter E. Kauffmann, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson, said, “The governor is aware of the concerns raised by the Social Security Administration and will act carefully.”

The Social Security system is so clogged with disputed disability claims that some people wait years for hearings. The stimulus bill signed by President Obama in February provided $500 million to “reduce the backlog of disability claims.”

But the impact of such spending could be offset by state cutbacks. In a report last month, Patrick P. O’Carroll Jr., the inspector general of the Social Security Administration, said that at least five states accounting for 15 percent of all disability cases — California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and Oregon — had decided to furlough some disability workers, freeze hiring or impose other restrictions. Social Security officials said about 10 other states were taking or considering similar actions.

The agency said it was looking for ways to avoid the delays. The federal government could, for example, take over work performed by the states, but such a change could probably not be made without action by Congress.

M.T.A. Rescue Plan May Hinge on Highway Spending, and Republican Support

by William Neuman

Almost from the beginning, Republicans have criticized the push to have the State Legislature pass a financial rescue plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority because it ignored another gaping hole in transportation spending: financing for a statewide highway and bridge-building program.

Those complaints have taken on a new urgency as the rescue plan has floundered in a narrowly divided State Senate, which is controlled by Democrats who acknowledge that passing the plan may require Republican support.

“To just ignore the highway, road and bridge plan and go to trying to negotiate a schedule for a new M.T.A. capital plan was just not the right thing to do,” said Senator Thomas W. Libous, a Republican from Binghamton who is the ranking minority member on the Senate Transportation Committee.

But he acknowledged that finding money for the road program during a deep recession could be every bit as problematic as solving the transportation authority’s fiscal woes.

“The need is going to be huge,” Mr. Libous said, referring to the money for the highway program. The Senate is the main stumbling block to helping the ailing authority; Gov. David A. Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have already endorsed a rescue plan.

The dispute centers on separate five-year capital spending programs for the New York City metropolitan area’s mass transportation system and the state roadway network, both of which expire within the next 12 months.

In the past, the Legislature has generally allotted equal amounts to roads and transit.

That has ensured support from both parties and all areas of the state: The city is seen as benefiting most from the transit money, while upstate areas rely heavily on roadway spending.

But that pattern was broken last year when Mr. Paterson chose to seek a financial rescue for the authority first.

The rescue plan was primarily intended to be a stable source of financing for the authority’s next capital program, which is to run from 2010 to 2014.

The program is expected to cost about $28 billion, much of that borrowed through the sale of bonds. It would pay for big-ticket items like new trains and buses; the renovation of subway stations and signal systems; and major projects, like the Second Avenue subway line.

The rescue plan would also help the authority deal with the crisis affecting its operating budget, which pays for the day-to-day expenses of running trains and buses. To help close a deficit of at least $1.2 billion, the authority is planning to raise fares and tolls by 20 to 30 percent and enact deep cuts in service.

The rescue plan would eliminate most of those service cuts and trim the fare increase to about 8 percent.

It would also raise money through a tax on payrolls in the 12-county region served by the authority and tolls on East and Harlem River bridges.

Mr. Paterson and Mr. Silver both support the plan, but in the Senate, where Democrats have a narrow 32-to-30 majority, a group of city Democrats has blocked the toll proposal while a group of suburban Democrats has opposed the payroll tax.

That has led to appeals for support from Republicans, who have largely sat on the sidelines as Democrats bickered. Republicans have pointed to the lack of a corresponding highway and bridge program and have also said that they have been left out of negotiations about a rescue plan.

“If you brought in the bridge and highway program, that would help it become a bipartisan issue, as it’s been in the past,” said Robert D. Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, a civic policy and planning group. He said allowing the capital programs to lapse would cost the state tens of thousands of jobs. “This is a pretty fundamental economic issue for the whole state,” he said.

An estimate last year said a new highway program would cost $26 billion, though its final price would probably mirror that of the authority’s program. It would pay for general roadway upkeep, like repaving and the installation of new signs and traffic signals, and also for larger projects, like the construction of bridges and roads.

The road and transit programs receive some funds from the federal government, with the rest coming through the sale of bonds.

Borrowing costs for the current highway program are paid out of a trust fund financed largely by gasoline-related taxes and motor vehicle registration and licensing fees. But that fund is running out of money, and to pay for the next five-year program more financing will have to be identified — possibly by substantially increasing the same taxes and fees that supply the trust fund.

That will not be an easy task during a recession and will almost certainly ignite a public debate that could be just as rancorous as the one raging over the transportation authority rescue.

An early proposal for a new five-year highway program written last year estimated that the state would have to inject an additional $5 billion into the highway trust fund over the course of the program — with more needed to pay debt service in following years.

Meanwhile, the Transport Workers Union, which represents transit workers, began running television and radio ads last week taking aim at the three Republican senators from New York City, claiming that Republican inaction was endangering the transit system.

The three senators, Frank Padavan from Queens, Martin J. Golden from Brooklyn and Andrew J. Lanza from Staten Island, all disagreed strongly with the ads, saying they had never been invited into discussions with Democrats on the rescue.

“Sure, I would want to get involved, but we’ve been premeditatively kept out of it,” Mr. Padavan said, adding that he would support a payroll tax but saw bridge tolls as problematic.

$528 Million Available for NYS Companies Through Pension Fund In-State Program DiNapoli to Start Statewide Tour to Identify Sound NYS Investments

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced a series of regional meetings to help identify potential investments for more than a half-billion dollars available through the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s In-State Private Equity Investment Program. DiNapoli said the In-State Fund has $528 million remaining from the $931 million committed to the program.

“The In-State Program has a great double bottom line,” DiNapoli said. “First and foremost, we’re generating solid returns for the pension fund. But these investments also help foster the next generation of great New York state companies. We have a half-billon dollars we want to invest in innovative, cutting-edge technology that’s being developed by the best minds in New York.

“In today’s economic environment, the temptation for some investors may be to run and hide. But now is not the time to be timid. I have a fiduciary obligation to find sound investments that will provide strong returns. The In-State program has already helped us find some of those investments right here in New York. We’ll be traveling the state looking for more in-state investments that will give us a great return on investment and also help New York’s economy.”

DiNapoli released a report today that found the In-State Program leveraged more than $3 billion of additional investment, helped create thousand of jobs, and achieved a 30 percent rate of return on exited investments.

DiNapoli’s report notes to date the Fund has exited 27 companies and achieved an internal rate of return of more than 30 percent, returning $134.1 million to the Fund on $74.9 million invested. In addition, the In-State Private Equity Program achieved a full return on all of its portfolio investments in Summer Street Capital, generating a gross total cash-on-cash return on investment of 3.5 times the Fund’s investment and an internal rate of return of 55 percent per annum. Summer Street Capital Partners generated above top-quartile industry performance for the Fund.

“State Comptroller DiNapoli is committed to expanding the In-State Program and to helping develop New York-based companies,” said Bill Mulrow, managing director of Paladin Capital Group. “The Common Retirement Fund’s in-state investments enable innovative private equity investors, like Paladin Capital Group, to establish a firm foothold in New York and ensures the state is home to groundbreaking research and technology. This is a great partnership and great program.”
“We have benefited from the incredible investment opportunities within New York state and with the capital, support and prestige of the Common Retirement Fund, Summer Street was successful in providing the capital necessary to grow and expand New York’s small businesses,” said Brian D’Amico at Summer Street Capital.

“We believe in the innovation and growth prospects emerging from New York,” said Mike Arpey, managing director and co-head of Credit Suisse’s Customized Fund Investment Group. “This road show continues the precedent set by the New York State Common Retirement Fund to serve an important role in the community and develop the talent that lies in the state. We continue to pursue New York investments on behalf of the New York state pension fund and look forward to partnering with the Fund on future opportunities that emerge from this road show and these new initiatives.”

DiNapoli’s report also notes the Fund’s commitment to the Program has grown to $931 million, and the actual investment in New York companies more than doubled to $403.6 million in March 2009 from $195.7 million in December 2006. In addition, since the Program’s inception in 1999, the Fund’s investments have leveraged $3 billion in additional investments from other sources.

DiNapoli is holding the meetings and participating in events to inform New York entrepreneurs and businesses about the opportunities available through the In-State Program. The first In-State Private Equity presentation will be held in New York City on April 14. Additional events are scheduled to be held in: Ithaca on April 16, Syracuse on April 17, Long Island on April 24, Albany on May 20, Rochester on June 2, Buffalo on June 25 and Potsdam on September 8.

DiNapoli’s report also provides an overview of the Program’s progress since it began in 1999:

· 43 companies were added to the roster of In-State Private Equity Program investments raising the total to 127 companies in March 2009 from 84 in December 2006;

· The number of employees at the companies the Fund invested in increased from approximately 8,818 employees at the time of initial investment to an estimated 11,470 as of March 2009 or when the Fund exited the investment;

· The Fund invested the majority of capital, 55 percent, in companies located north of the New York City suburbs, 9 percent in suburban New York City and 36 percent within the City; and

· Seven companies relocated to New York state as a direct result of the Fund’s capital investment. These companies are Tri-Ed Distribution from Canada, IGA Worldwide from Europe, Smartpill from California, Aequus Technologies and Versamed both from New Jersey, GX Studios from Connecticut, and Associated Content which consolidated from several out-of-state locations.

Through its In-State Private Equity Program, the Fund invests with private equity managers who seek to invest in New York state companies that require capital for growth. The program, created in 1999 with the support of the state Legislature, targets investment of state funds in the New York state economy. The program is designed to provide investment returns consistent with the risk of private equity while also expanding the availability of capital for New York businesses. The program also helps generate jobs and private sector investment in the state.

To view the report, visit: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/pension/instate0309.pdf.

About the Common Retirement Fund
The New York State Common Retirement Fund is the third largest public pension plan in the United States with more than one million members, retirees and beneficiaries from state and local governments. Comptroller DiNapoli is the sole trustee of the Fund and manages a diversified portfolio of public and private equities, fixed income, real estate and alternative instruments.

Unions to bear brunt of cuts

by James M. Odato

Governor says that since management/confidential workers are sacrificing pay raise, they will be spared layoffs

ALBANY — Gov. David Paterson continued to flex his muscle with labor unions Tuesday, releasing a letter that says he is exempting nonunion employees from planned layoffs because they are sacrificing the same pay raises that union workers refuse to give up.

Paterson reduced his layoff target by 200 to 8,700 because “management/confidential” employees — managers and secretaries who are not in unions — will be denied the 3 percent pay raises union employees will get under contractual agreements. Paterson used his power to rescind the raises for about 11,000 management/confidential workers.

The governor also revealed a list of the proposed cuts, ranging from 2,021 at Corrections to zero at his executive chamber. Other big hits targeted; 1,434 at the Office of Mental Retardation; 1,054 at Mental Health; 386 at State Police; 366 at Health; 317 at Taxation & Finance; and 245 at Children and Family Services; 100 at General Services.

As a result of killing the raises to the management/confidential employees, the state will save $32 million over two years, and Paterson won’t have to reach the 8,900-layoff target he previously set.

Civil Service Employees Association President Danny Donohue said Paterson’s actions are outrageous. “What Governor Paterson is saying is that the highest-paid personnel will not be included as part of his cost-cutting moves. He is also saying that the brunt of his reductions will be on the lower paid employees who actually do the work of the state every day.”

Some labor officials say it is not possible to bypass nonunion employees to lay off union people in the same title with more seniority. For instance many workers at Civil Service are management/confidential because they handle confidential information but they may have the same title as union people in the same agency.

“People still want their raises,” said Barbara Zaron, president of the Organization of Management Confidential Employees. She said a lot of people feel let down by Paterson, who had suggested in previous communications that all workers would be getting raises this month.

“We are in discussions with the (Division of the) Budget and governor’s office about some potential alternatives,” Zaron said. “We’re hopeful that maybe we can get the raises reinstated if we can get the saving from other means.”

Paterson released a letter to all state employees about the situation, emphasizing that unions refused “modest concessions” — giving up the raises and lagging paychecks — to share in sacrifices others are making.

“Regrettably, however, our state’s public employee unions refused to consider concessions at all,” Paterson wrote. “I was left with no alternative but to implement a work force reduction plan.” He said he directed all state agency heads to implement their reductions by July 1.

“We cannot eliminate our state’s deficit without layoffs,” he said.

Public Employees Federation officials say the governor’s proposed concessions add up to a 5 percent cut in pay. “It is clear that his goal is not to make state government more efficient and cost-effective, but to extract an additional pound of flesh from hardworking public employees” said PEF President Ken Brynien. He said he intends to meet with Paterson today to emphasize there are other ways to come up with the roughly $449 million in savings he seeks through layoffs.
Paterson said union leaders have not been willing to compromise to prevent layoffs. “We felt we had no other choice but to lay these people off until the economy recovers,” Paterson said.

Some fiscal watchdogs, including the Citizens Budget Commission, say the governor’s layoff number is too small, and that hundreds more could be cut from the payroll.

Older New Yorkers Maintain Key Health and Community Services in New York State Budget

Statement by Lois Aronstein
AARP NY State Director

AARP commends Governor Paterson, Majority Leader Smith, and Speaker Silver for their leadership in recognizing the critical needs of vulnerable New Yorkers in these tough economic times. Several key services that are critical to older New Yorkers and which at the same time save the state money were preserved in the final state budget agreement.

When people can’t get the prescription drugs they need, it ends up making them sicker and costing our health care system more. We are pleased that the state will continue to cover prescription drugs that are not covered by Medicare Part D for the elderly enrolled in the EPIC program. However, we are disappointed that another proposal was rejected that could help reduce the costs of prescription drugs by banning gifts to doctors from drug companies.

Home- and community-based care services that keep the elderly out of expensive institutional care are vital to helping older New Yorkers live independently with dignity and choice. The Legislature restored funding for several programs that older New Yorkers rely on to stay in their communities as they age, including the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) – Meals on Wheels, the Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP), Community Services for the Elderly Program (CSE), and Adult Day Care.

AARP is encouraged that the state is moving 6,000 beds from expensive institutional nursing home care to the less costly and less confining assisted living program (ALP). However, we believe these beds should not be moved until the Assisted Living Program (ALP) complies with the Assisted Living Reform Act of 2004 (ALRA) from which it is now exempted.

ALRA created strong consumer protections for assisted living residents. Under the new budget agreement, low-income New Yorkers occupying assisted living beds paid for by Medicaid (ALP beds) will be governed by an inferior set of rules than those occupying non-Medicaid assisted living beds.

Programs that assist grandparents who are raising grandchildren received a big boost in the state budget. Kinship caregivers currently raise nearly 400,000 children in New York State, help keep children out of foster care, and reduce financial costs to state. The Legislature rejected the Governor’s proposed cuts to programs important to kinship caregivers and provided additional funding that will allow even more caregivers and children to be served.

AARP looks forward to continuing to work with Governor Paterson and the Legislature on proposals that allow New Yorkers to age independently and safely in their communities.

Report: NYC nonprofit sector the largest private employer

Called a vital part of the safety net, source of jobs for minorities

Nonprofit organizations in New York City—hospitals, social service providers, arts organizations—employ nearly 500,000 workers, just over 15 percent of the total, according to a new report released by the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI). That makes the so-called “health and human services and cultural nonprofits” (HHSC) sector the largest private employer in New York City. And it’s growing, even in tough times, having gained jobs through both upswings and downturns in the economy. From 2000 to 2007, the nonprofit HHSC sector added more than 50,000 jobs, while the rest of the city’s private economy lost jobs. The sector’s current annual payroll in the city tops $20 billion.

“During this severe recession, increased demands for a range of safety net services will fall upon the city’s nonprofit health and human services sector,” said the Fiscal Policy Institute’s chief economist, James Parrott, the principal author of the report. “These increased demands come at a time when the nonprofit sector is under pressure from severely constrained city and state budgets—and facing mounting challenges as philanthropies and foundations scale back.”

The report focused on health care, social services, and cultural organizations, all sectors in the city’s economy that are dominated by nonprofit organizations. The largest industries included in the analysis are hospitals, home health care services, nursing homes, social services organizations, and child day care centers. Doctor’s offices, medical testing labs and pharmaceutical companies were not included. The performing arts and museum sectors account for a little over 25,000 of the 473,000 jobs in the overall HHSC nonprofit sector.

New York City’s Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Linda I. Gibbs, requested that FPI prepared the report to quantify the magnitude and economic role of the nonprofit sector. Ms. Gibbs said, “The Bloomberg Administration recognizes the strength and vitality of the almost half a million New Yorkers that make up our City’s nonprofit workforce. That is why yesterday Mayor Bloomberg launched a comprehensive strategy that will reduce organizations’ fixed costs, improve City contract procedures and build new partnerships to help strengthen nonprofits. We are thankful the Fiscal Policy Institute worked to prepare this report because it is an incredibly useful snapshot of this important sector that is so crucial to our city.”

The report includes a detailed look at the demographic profile of health and human services workers, the first in recent memory. Fiscal Policy Institute researchers found that this workforce is predominately female, slightly older than the rest of the city’s workforce and much more likely to be members of minority racial and ethnic groups. A third of all health and human service workers have at least a four-year college degree.

Parrott noted that the sector is uniquely important in terms of jobs for members of minority groups. He said, “The number of minority workers employed in this sector increased by nearly one third from 2000 to 2007. Elsewhere in the city, economy minority employment grew by less than three percent.”

“Nonprofit service providers are integral to life in New York City in so many ways,” said Fran Barrett, executive director of the Community Resource Exchange (CRE). Barrett said, “Nonprofits are the front line of defense against individual and family hardship, and major providers of essential health and human services. And, as the FPI report so clearly documents, they also employ hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and are a major economic factor in every borough.”

The FPI report found that while the major cultural organizations are highly concentrated in Manhattan, the broader health and human services and cultural organizations sector accounts for 17 to 33 percent of all private payroll jobs in Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.

The press release is at: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_Release_NonprofitSectorNYC.pdf

The report is available at: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_NonprofitSectorNYC.pdf

BUSINESS AND LABOR COALITION OF NEW YORK TO HOST ROCHESTER HEALTH CARE FORUM – MAY 1st

BALCONY- Rochester Seeks to Find Common Ground in
Reforming New York’s Health Care System

The Business and Labor Coalition of New York, BALCONY, in conjunction with the Rochester Business and Labor Roundtable , will host a Rochester Area Health Care Forum on Friday, May 1 at 8:00 am at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 1100 South Goodman Street in Rochester. The event will focus on finding common ground between business and labor on practical solutions for improving New York’s health care system, with particular emphasis on the Greater Rochester Community.

The Forum will feature a panel of government, business and labor leaders, including New York State Assembly Insurance Committee Chair Joseph Morelle, who will engage in a facilitated dialogue with the audience. There will also be presentations from the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency on the health status of the Rochester area and from BALCONY on pending statewide health care reform proposals.

BALCONY offers this event in coordination with its Rochester area organizing partners: American Cancer Society, Downtown Community Forum, Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, IBEW local 86, New York State United Teachers and Rochester Area Labor Federation. For more information about the Forum, or to RSVP, by APRIL 24th:  email Adria Linehan at adria@balconynewyork.com or Tom Gillett at tgillett@nysutmail.org

WHO: The Business and Labor Coalition of New York, BALCONY – Rochester

WHAT: Rochester Area Health Care Forum

WHERE: Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School Dining Room
1100 South Goodman Street, Rochester

WHEN: Friday, May 1, 2009
8:00 AM – 11:30 AM (Continental breakfast will be provided)

N.Y. State Passes $131 Billion Budget

by Danny Hakim and Jeremy W. Peters

ALBANY — The Legislature completed action on the state budget Friday after a week of debate, passing the $131 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that began on Wednesday.

Democrats hailed the budget as containing “historic reforms” and “tough decisions,” while Republicans said it was “disastrous,” “sheer lunacy” and “laden with pork and patronage.” Rush Limbaugh has sworn to leave New York because of the budget’s tax increases on top earners, leading Gov. David A. Paterson to remark on Thursday: “If I knew that would be the result, I would’ve thought about the taxes earlier.”

But the document may only be a first draft. The governor, a Democrat, has warned that it is likely to be reopened this year amid declining state tax revenues and Wall Street’s troubles.

There are questions whether the Legislature has seriously addressed the state’s problems; lawmakers are relying on federal stimulus payments over the next two years and on a three-year state tax increase on the highest earners to balance the budget.

Even at the close of the legislative session on Friday, many of the budget’s details remained unknown.

It was still not clear how much state spending would grow. The governor has said the budget, which will now go to his desk to be signed, keeps state spending essentially flat. But the figures his budget division has released exclude how much the state will pay this year in debt service, providing an incomplete picture — as if someone was assessing his or her personal finances without considering credit card and other debt. Over all, it is hardly a picture of austerity, with spending rising more than 9 percent when several billion dollars in federal stimulus money are included.

Getting a handle on the increases in taxes, fees, fines and other revenue-raising measures is also tricky. The Paterson administration initially said the budget included $5.3 billion worth of taxes and fees, but that figure approaches $7 billion when the elimination of School Tax Relief, or STAR, property tax rebates is factored in.

In addition, a report released by Senate Democrats this week said the budget had $8.3 billion worth of taxes, fees, fines and other measures, including actions like expanding the bottle bill to include nickel deposits on bottles of water.

State officials also could not say how many legislative pet projects, called member items, the budget contained. The Legislature appropriates $170 million on such projects annually, along with money drawn from funds left over from the previous year’s budget. The spending plan appears to contain thousands of member items, with new reserve funds set aside for lawmakers to quietly divvy up later.

The budget’s impact will be broadly felt. The Legislature is raising tuition for students at publicly funded universities and is using much of that money to balance the budget. The budget also slows the growth of spending on education and Medicaid.

Over all, there is a greater reliance on taxation than the governor had proposed, and a reliance on temporary help from Washington.

“The stimulus funding is going to present challenges to all states,” said Robin Prunty, senior director in the public finance department at Standard & Poors. “It’s providing important resources to balance the budget, but it is impeding structural budget solutions that could, down the road, create new difficulties.”

Democrats were putting the best face on the outcome.

“Don’t feel bad about this budget, my colleagues. You did the right thing,” Malcolm A. Smith, the Senate majority leader, said in his closing remarks on Friday. He acknowledged that he was not happy with the secretive budget negotiations that produced the spending plan, saying, “We have to do better.”

The Assembly, which is overwhelmingly controlled by Democrats, finished passing the budget on Tuesday.

Senate Republicans used this week’s floor debates to register their outrage in hyperbolic terms, warming to their role as the voice of opposition after ruling the chamber for more than four decades.

They set up a rapid-response team in their communications office on the third floor of the Capitol to monitor debates on the floor, sent out e-mail blasts and reached out to sympathetic bloggers in cities like Watertown and Rochester.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves!” Senator William J. Larkin Jr., who represents the Newburgh area, said in a booming address on the Senate floor on Friday.

Dean G. Skelos, the Senate minority leader, called the budget “antifamily, antibusiness” and “the biggest sham” he had ever seen.

“Tax on wine, tax on beer, tax on cigars, anything — you taxed it,” he said.

Senator Charles J. Fuschillio of Long Island delivered perhaps the most animated condemnation: “Stop! Enough! Were choking to death!” he shouted. “You’re killing people!”

During the floor debates, Republicans repeatedly hammered home the point that this was a New York City-centric budget. Senate Republicans, a caucus known for its aging membership, even established their own account on YouTube and posted a series of videos of the debates.

The governor, for his part, defended the budget, calling it a “pragmatic fiscal document.”

“This is not the budget that you put on the mantel or the one that wins first prize and a blue ribbon,” he said on Thursday, “but it is the budget that effectively manages the resources that this state has and the financial encumbrances of this time.”

Legislation to bail out the financially imperiled Metropolitan Transportation Authority remained out of reach for lawmakers this week. When they return to Albany next week, they are expected to face pressure from Mr. Paterson to agree on a plan.

GOV NIXES NON-UNION HIKE$

by Fredric U. Dicker

ALBANY — Gov. Paterson late yesterday denied 3 percent wage hikes to 13,000 non-union state employees, saving an estimated $20 million a year. This comes two days after a senior aide told The Post that raises would be granted despite the governor’s threat to lay off 8,900 mostly union workers who refused to waive their own 3 percent hikes. State Operations Director Dennis Whalen, in a letter to state commissioners, blamed the wage freeze on the state’s “unprecedented fiscal emergency.” Non-union “management/confi- dential” and “exempt” workers, mainly administrators, managers and other professionals, normally receive the same wage hikes negotiated by the employees’ unions. Paterson had asked union reps for 130,000 state workers to waive the pay hikes. When they said no last week, he said he’d fire thousands of civil servants this summer.