Sadly, The Media Has Not Done Its Job On NYS Budget

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the news media and journalism. We depend on journalists to dig, to present two, three and as many sides as it takes to bare the truth. They are the seekers of the truth in a world that many times challenges it with misstatements and lies. We need the news media to sometimes force transparency on leaders, on government and on business. Many times they do a great job. But every once in awhile, sadly and usually at the most important times, they fail.

News and news gathering has undergone significant changes. Social media has been a part of the change as well as the competitive push to be the first with a story, facts be damned. Journalists also become comfortable with the people they cover and frankly they sometimes depend on their subjects for information about stories.

Over the past few weeks I've watched along with others how Governor Andrew Cuomo has presented his facts about the NYS Budget to the capitol press corps. Cuomo has a way of chiding, bossing, putting down and generally treating the press like school children. Subtly and not so subtly pointing out that they're foolish if they don't accept his theories and beliefs. A few continue to challenge him but very few. The problem is, what if the emperor is wrong? What if he really has no clothes? What if he's making things up at best and lying at worst? What if people get hurt from the games he plays with the press?

Let's look at what started as his budget proposal to cut $120million from voluntary agencies supporting people with developmental disabilities. As the budget has been negotiated with Legislative Leaders that number looks like it will be more like $90million but the numbers get complicated and are less of the issue then how the Governor spins his story and how the press accepts his spin.

Cuomo insists he cares about the people affected and presents these cuts as not his fault. No it's the federal government. They are asking NYS to payback $1billion that was "over billed" over many years in accordance with an agreement that NYS had with the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Reporters have all accepted Cuomo's version as far as I can tell. No one seems to have contacted CMS or any other source to verify his version. Did CMS say - these voluntary agencies were awful. Take the money from them and from them alone. We mandate that you do it that way. Did CMS ask NYS how the money was spent? The fact is, it was billed as part of a NYS Institutional rate. Do people know how the dollars flowed to NYS? Did they go to programs or did they go into NYS's General Fund?

Cuomo does the same thing when he talks about how these cuts will be targeted and how they should be absorbed by non profits. Cut administrative costs he says. Sounds great. Just what the public wants to hear. But does the press look into this a little further? Do they ask agencies what administrators do or what cuts they've sustained in the past two years? Do they understand that in these agencies administration is much more then an executive director's salary. Things like Human Resources, Quality Assurance and managers of individual residences. Do they ask the Governor if he understands what new administrative regulations he's put in place that these folks need to respond to relative to quality assurance, fire safety, incident reporting and background checks? He wants to support direct support staff. Does anyone ask - how will these agencies implement minimum wage increases while sustaining massive cuts? Does the press push back and ask how he will move forward with $600million of new revenue from the feds to close remaining institutions in NYS while he cuts the legs out from underneath the organizations that in one breath are called administrative hogs and in the next are called partners?

When vulnerable people are at risk, doesn't the press have some responsibility to dig into statements that are being made for their (the press's) benefit or to dig into how priorities are decided - roads, tax relief, a luxury suite at a football stadium, tax credits to move talk shows to NY versus people needing essential and long term support.

The media told the stories of abuse and administrative waste, and allegations of fraud that helped to create this environment without much push back and the Governor has now used the media's stories to his benefit. The people caught in the middle deserve much better questioning of every leader in NYS - executive, administrative and legislative. In addition, the media should begin asking questions about the legality of these cuts on supports for a protected class of individuals. The media can and has done the right thing in the past. We do count on them to do it again.