New York State Governor David Paterson will unveil US$2 billion in budget cuts on Wednesday morning, less than a week before the State Legislature returns for a special session to address the state's ballooning deficit.

"This proposal, as well as our executive budget in December, will include reductions across virtually every area of state spending," a report available on www.timesunion.com on Tuesday quoted Risa Heller, the governor's communications director, as saying in a statement.

"Given the magnitude of this crisis, the only way we are going to be able to get New York's fiscal house in order is through shared sacrifice. Just as families across the state must adjust to changing financial circumstances, so must our government and those who rely upon state funding," Heller said.

In recent weeks, Paterson has steadily toughened his stance on what sectors should be included in the cuts, which must be authorized by the Legislature, the report said.

Cuts to education and Medicaid, have in a series of statements moved from being "on the table" to almost inevitable, according to the report.

Similarly, the governor recommends that agencies and their labor unions should reopen contracts in order to stave off the need for layoffs -- a suggestion that was rebuffed by labor leaders on Monday.

Three of New York's most powerful public employee unions have reportedly said that they won't reopen contracts to any concessions despite the state's fiscal crisis.

"I don't see any local leader wanting to come to the table to give something up," Richard Iannuzzi, president of New York State United Teachers, was quoted by a report available on www.nypolitics. com on Tuesday.

Paterson has watched his poll numbers rise over the past three months since he issued his first major statewide address on the financial peril facing New York due to the slowdown on Wall Street and sluggishness throughout the larger economy, according to the report.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2008)