The economic turmoil on Wall Street has left New York State’s budget in limbo. In the latest special session, Governor Paterson proposed over $2 billion in additional cuts. While we understand the need for budget cuts, this latest round goes beyond trimming excess and into the territory of straining the well-being of New Yorkers. Like Cornell, New York State must focus on the long term and not react quickly and capriciously to a crisis.

The governor’s proposals call for a cut in public school aid by $585 million, a reduction in health care spending by $572 million and a rise in the tuition of SUNY students by $600 a year. These proposals are in addition to the cuts the governor made earlier this year. Locally, the consequences have been far-reaching and tragic.

In Tompkins and Cortland counties, local Departments of Health provide no-cost mammograms to low-income women with state funding. According to researchers at the University of California Davis Medical Center, annual mammograms reduce the risk of death from breast cancer by 36 percent. Early detection also saves insurers and patients thousands of dollars in medical costs. But in spite of the evidence that lives and dollars are saved with regular mammograms, this year’s budget cuts have starved these programs for funding.

The governor’s Medicaid cuts also threaten the financial stability of local hospitals across New York State. In Binghamton, the already strained United Health Services, which includes Wilson Medical Center and Binghamton General Hospital, would lose over $4.25 million if these cuts go through. Lourdes Hospital, a Catholic community hospital, would lose well over $2 million. At the University Hospital in Syracuse, part of the SUNY system, budget cuts have already forced the hospital to trim its workforce in critical areas like children’s cancer care. Cuts in health care, especially when people are losing their jobs and need Medicaid, are not the answer.

As students who are acutely aware of the effect of tuition hikes, we’re particularly concerned about the governor’s plan to increase tuition in the State University of New York system. In times of economic uncertainty, people turn to education to train and prepare for a brighter future. The SUNY system has been a flagship of public higher education that has lifted millions into the middle class. If anything, the system should be reducing tuition rates.

We admire the governor for working throughout the year to trim excess and reduce spending. However, this latest round of cuts threatens New York’s social safety net. It’s now time, after several rounds of cuts, to think about revenue. According to the Fiscal Policy Institute of New York State, millionaires in New York received tax cuts that moved them from a state income tax of 15 percent to 7 percent over the past decade. This has resulted in well over $100 billion in lost revenue that could have been used for improved health care, education and the reduction of the tax burden for middle class New Yorkers. Like President-elect Obama, Governor Paterson should start thinking about reforming the tax code. Otherwise, New York will find itself lost in a race to the bottom.