Cuomo to cut New York state jobs

ALBANY, N.Y., Jan. 20 (UPI) -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's staff says the number of layoffs of state employees to be included in his proposed budget is still undecided.

Cuomo, who took office this month, is to present his 2011 budget to the Legislature Feb. 1, The Buffalo News reports. Legislators say numbers have come up in at least one meeting, but a spokesman said everything is still on the table except the fact that there will be job cuts.

"The governor has not finalized his executive budget, so any speculation is premature," Josh Vlasto said. "Unfortunately, as the governor has said, given that the state is going through its worst fiscal crisis since the 1970s, large cuts and shared sacrifice will be required in order to close the $10 billion budget gap."

The New York Times said Thursday at least 15,000 jobs were likely to be cut, while The Wall Street Journal said there will be 10,000 layoffs. Members of the Legislature told the News the figure they were given was 10,000.

About 165,000 state jobs are under the governor's control.