To help fill in some of the details that have been missing during the budget battle the past few weeks, the Citizens Budget Commission has tallied the impact of both the legislative actions taken already and those expected to be taken to close the $8.6 billion budget gap.

It is unlikely that New York State will have a balanced budget in place by the start of the new fiscal year on April 1. Of course timeliness is not the only criteria; quality matters, perhaps more so this year than usual because of the implications of this budget for the next 3-4 years of potentially catastrophic deficits. So where do things stand and where should State leaders go from here?

According to the budget the Governor submitted Tuesday, the State is facing a $6.7 billion budget hole in the 2010-11 fiscal year that begins on April 1 (that includes an additional $500 million deficit left over from this year.) This deficit amounts to about 8 percent of State operating funds, which are expected to climb to $84.9 billion without any action by the Legislature to reduce growth.

The actual legislation containing the Governor's deficit reductions proposals that was submitted yesterday varies from the original Executive proposal in a number of ways, and reflects some of the ideas suggested by other parties to the negotiations.