New York State Republicans, including state Senator Fred Akshar of Binghamton, are pushing back against Governor Andrew Cuomo placing blame on the state’s struggling finances on the federal government.

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
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The Governor said February 4 that the federal law capping a deduction for state and local income taxes at $10,000 is mainly to blame for a projected $2.3 billion deficit.

In the past, the Democrat has pointed to Republican tax policies and the challenging weather of "Upstate" New York for driving residents and business out of the Empire State.

Akshar says the state has a big budget challenge to face but the enemy is not the weather or the federal government, but what he said was “our own relentless addiction to tax-and-spend policies.”

Senate Republican Leader John Flanagan, however, said the Governor did acknowledge for the first time that it is high taxes forcing New Yorkers to leave.

Flanagan says, however, the Democrat is not taking responsibility for those high taxes or working with Republicans and others on plans to cut taxes.

Cuomo has until mid-February to make amendments to his proposed $175 billion dollar state budget.

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