New York state running out of cash

ALBANY, Mass., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- New York state could be down to its last $36 million by the end of 2009, officials say.

State officials told The New York Times a cash crisis could come sooner if New York does not tap its rainy day funds. The state budget is around $130 billion, second only to California, and the deficit is about $3.2 billion.

The state Senate has so far done little to help Gov. David Paterson close the gap, the Times said. While Paterson wants the Senate to help bring expenses and revenues into line, senators have talked about the potential revenue from legalizing gay marriage -- although gay marriage has not come up for a vote -- or from compelling Indian tribes to pay cigarette taxes.

Moody's Investment Service warned last week the state's actions in the next three months could have a critical effect on its credit rating.

"The announcement of out-year gaps is not in and of itself an issue," Emily Raimes, a Moody's analyst, told the Times. "What we look at is how they solve them. If they solve them with one-time measures, that's going to increase the gaps in future years, and at some point they get so large it becomes difficult to solve them."