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Restoring Fiscal Integrity to Government
George Pataki believes that New York draws its strength and its character from its people and not its institutions. Governor Pataki has instituted a smaller, smarter government that is more responsive to the needs of its people. Governor Pataki understands that government serves its people best when government intrudes the least.
The Pataki Record on Restoring Fiscal Integrity to Government:
 - Since 1995, Governor Pataki has cut the state workforce by more than 20,000 positions.
- Fiscal prudence has turned chronic deficits into annual surpluses.
- Gov. Pataki inherited a record $5 billion budget deficit -- a total larger than the entire budgets of 31 other states. By 1998, the Governor has run three straight surpluses, and this year New York's surplus was a record $2 billion.
- New York is now fiscally responsible and taxes are being cut. Chronic deficits have been replaced by annual surpluses. And the state's "Rainy Day" reserve accounts -- buffers against bad economic times -- are funded at record levels.
- This record of achievement in tax reduction and fiscal restraint prompted the respected Cato Institute and others to give Governor Pataki the highest marks for fiscal management.
- In 1997, Wall Street raised New York's credit rating for the first time in a decade.
- Needless and redundant agencies, like the state Energy Office and the Cable TV Commission, have been eliminated. New York's welfare and children's services bureaucracies have been restructured in order to be more effective and efficient, so they now better meet the people's needs.
Additional Information
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