The state’s plan to borrow from the pension fund is potentially growing by billions of dollars.
About two weeks ago, Gov. David A. Paterson and lawmakers reached a tentative agreement to allow the state and municipalities to borrow $6 billion from the state pension fund over the next three years. Now the Legislature, acting on its own, has scrapped that in favor of a more aggressive plan that would allow for borrowing from the pension fund in perpetuity. Each plan would help balance the budget this year.
The new plan, which would allow borrowing in the tens of billions of dollars over time, closely matches one proposed by Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Mr. DiNapoli, however, has cooled to the whole idea in recent weeks after it was criticized by budget watchdogs, and Harry Wilson, a Republican challenging his re-election…
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