Perhaps at no time in the modern history of New York state has it ever been clearer the daunting challenges awaiting state lawmakers as they gear up for the start of a new legislative session.

Some clues:

State government ended 2009 with a $600 million shortfall in its primary operating fund for the first time in recent history.

The state faces an $8 billion deficit this year.

Looming is an unprecedented $40 billon budget gap over the next three years.

Obviously, New York must start to get its fiscal house in order. Now.

Gov. David Paterson will no doubt make New York’s dire finances the focus of his State of the State speech Wednesday when lawmakers return to Albany to begin the 2010 Legislature. Again, he’ll try to convey the urgency of the situation. And, again, fellow Democrats who control both the Senate and Assembly will likely nod and politely applaud.

But they’re unlikely to take the kind of aggressive action necessary to get New York moving in the right direction unless pushed. With all 212 seats in the Legislature up for re-election in November, citizens must use their considerable ballot box leverage to push for systemic changes.

This page believes those changes must include caps on property taxes and state spending, as well as redesigning government.

Look, too, at the reasonable recommendations unveiled Monday by the fiscally conservative think tank, Empire Center for Public Policy. It offered 30 ideas that could save the state $30 billion over the next three years. They include a wage freeze for teachers and state workers, and deep cuts in Medicaid and school aid spending.

There is no dearth of viable ideas for reform. The problem remains the people who are misrepresenting citizens in Albany. This year must be different

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