Morgan McKayis is reporting for State of Politics Governor Andrew Cuomo is warning of major cuts to schools, hospitals, and local governments in the wake of the federal government's failure to provide direct funding for the state in its stimulus bills. Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties, says local governments do not have the resources to deal with any cuts to funding. “It’s unsustainable. It would devastate local governments,” Acquario explained. Cuts to local governments would mean layoffs to the workforce and postponing road construction projects. “We’re going to have to lay off workers. No one wants to lay off workers,” Acquario said. In addition, there is a state law that requires local governments to make school districts whole on delinquent property taxes. This is money, Acquario says, that local governments just do not have right now. “We’ve asked the governor if he could suspend that law and give us a little bit more time to make those payments to school districts,” Acquario explained. “This is a very serious issue, a very serious cash-flow problem.” Acquario says local governments are doing their best to prepare for the funding cuts. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.