New York's new $121 billion budget spends at a rate of more than $331 million per day, according to an analysis released today by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

State spending under the new budget -- the portion of the spending plan financed by state taxes, fees and all other non-federal revenues -- includes a near-9 percent hike over last year that is three times the rate of inflation.

To illustrate just how quickly state spending is happening under the new budget, the Empire Center is using a "Spend-O-Meter," found here:

Calibrated to Gov. Spitzer's estimate of $120.9 billion in "all funds" spending under the enacted budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year, the "Spend-O-Meter" spins at the following rates:

"Under this year's budget, our state government will spend more every 12 seconds than the average worker earns in a year," said E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center.

The Empire Center is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, one of the nation's leading non-profit, non-partisan think tanks.