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2006-07 Budget Analysis Indicates New York
Voters Duped in 1997 in a “No” Vote to 2.4 Billion General
Obligation Bond Act for Education Infrastructure.
According to the May release of the2006-07
Budget Analysis by Alan Hevesi, voters rejected the 2.4 billion
General Obligation bond act by a margin of 53 to 47. However funding
provided under the states EXEL program is not appropriated but
rather bond proceeds that are distributed directly to the schools
districts by DASNY thereby circumventing the states accounting
procedures and pre-audits. The EXEL program is not subject to
voters’ approval thus detailed spending information is neither
accessible nor structured in such a way as to be scrutinized by the
public.
Hevesi went on to report: “As such the bonds
are backed by debt service contract
pledge as with other back-door
borrowing. Not accounting for this, State spending is misleading
today’s and future taxpayers who are footing the bill for this debt.
Essentially, the State did indirectly what voters directly said no
to in 1997”.
Growing up, my family always taught me to vote
and I have voted all my life… I taught my daughter to vote and I
have urged others to vote…I consider it an act of duty and
responsibility to my country. I am so thankful to be able to
participate in this great democracy….to do my small part in steering
America in the path our forefathers intended. Now I am told that
voters can be duped so easily and cunningly by legislative and
accounting slights of hand. To me…this is the ultimate travesty and
breach a governing body and/or representatives can commit upon its’
constituents. Who are there among us that can challenge the
egregious frauds committed against the hard working taxpayers in
this state by such elected officials of which we have placed our
greatest trust.
New York MUST have a Taxpayers Bill of Rights
and the leverage of Initiative and Referendum. I see no greater case
for the two… than the reprehensible acts stated above. If our vote
has so little meaning to those in Albany that act in our stead while
trampling the very essence of our nation by rendering our judgment
so utterly insignificant, I think them not worthy to sweep the
floors of the grand edifice they occupy. They should suffer the
accountability of full disclosure of their deceitful actions in
front of a national audience. Any and all that had part should step
down to honest, decent men. But regrettably those virtues are
reserved for only the honest and decent. Backdoor borrowing is a
watered down word that sounds much less (in this instance) than it
is. When taken at face value (the only way it should be taken…
absent of spin), the legislators have devised a clever way to
neutralize the power of popular consensus making a mockery of the
sanctity of the vote while taking it upon themselves to waive a
Constitutional right. What insolence, shame and hypocrisy! Indeed we
have come a long way since going to war over a 3 cents tax on tea!
You may reference this matter on pages 74 thru
76 of the 2006-2007 Budget Analysis by Alan Hevesi, NY Comptroller.
Fred Lane
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