Governor Paterson has proposed to reduce state deficit and urged legislators to support his budget cut plan of $5.2 billion by next year.

It is a plan to reduce the state’s spending and save money for the upcoming year.

The Governor states that education and health care are two of the main concerns and without cutting them, the deficit will be tough to reduce.

According to 1199SEIU - United Healthcare Workers, this is the sixth time the healthcare funding has been reduced by the Governor in the last two years.

There will also be an increase in tuition for State University of New York and City University of New York schools. CUNY schools may start from a $300 increase in the upcoming spring semester to $600 next fall.

CUNY students, many thousand of whom are from diverse backgrounds, also have many concerns about the increase in tuition.

This tuition increase may force some students to make a choice between supporting a New York life and their education, with many finding it harder to continue their education. Furthermore, working more to support their education may also cut into their study time.

Some students are worried if the increase will end their college lives altogether. Meherunnisa Jobaida, a former LaGuardia Community College student, said, “increasing $300 may not be anything to some people, but this will certainly jeopardize some hardworking students’ college education.”

In addition to the education cuts, there will be a reduction in Medicaid rewards, a rise in tax on health insurance, soda, beer, etc. According to the New York Times, Paterson says that he wants to balance the budget, preserve the state’s credit rating and keep New York afloat.

“The reduction in Medicare might not be a problem for the wealthy but it will endanger those who can’t afford to see a doctor or buy medicine,” said Fatema, a laundry factory employee.

Union members are angered by this and have said that this will increase layoffs.

Although legislators have not made their decisions about the plan yet, the governor warned if the budget cuts are not approved then he will take matters into his own hands.

He says the legislators are frightened to make this these changes, they say that they are going to but don’t.

Paterson says this is as worse as the Great Depression, while others say this budget shortfall will not solve the problem.

According to the New York Times, if the budget cuts are made, the state will still experience an $8.8 billion shortage.