ALBANY – New York voters are paying a lot of attention to the state’s on-going budget crisis and they are overwhelmingly worried that the state will run out of cash, a new poll out today shows.
The Marist College survey found 69 percent of New Yorkers say they’re either “very worried” or “worried” that the state won’t have enough money to pay its bills in December, as Gov. Paterson has warned.
The poll found that voters, by an overwhelming 70-21 percent, blame the Legislature and not Paterson for the state’s fiscal problem.
But that doesn’t mean they approve of Paterson’s handling of the budget situation.
The poll found that 64 percent of voters disapprove of Paterson’s strategy for dealing with the fiscal crisis while just 28 percent approve.
Sixty-three percent of voters also disapprove of Paterson’s handling of the state’s overall economic problems.
“Voters are paying attention to the budget problems in Albany and they’re not happy with what they are seeing,’’ said Marist Polling Director Dr. Lee Miringoff.
Paterson has warned that the state is facing a $3.2 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year, which ends next March 31.
He’s called two special sessions of the Legislature during the past two weeks in an attempt to get an agreement to reduce state spending but so far has failed in the effort.