Of all the huge numbers being batted around Washington during its debt-crisis battle in Congress, New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is focusing on one back in Albany: $7 billion.
That’s how much the state is counting on from the federal government over the next two months in Medicaid funding alone.
Any agreement to resolve the crisis is expected to force deep federal spending cuts. That could derail the state’s recovery and force more painful cuts to schools, hospitals and social service agencies.
DiNapoli also says today credit rating agencies are already telling him that even if the crisis is resolved, federal interest rates could still rise as the nation’s credit is downgraded, triggering a possible downgrade in New York and potentially sending Wall Street into a “tailspin.”
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