Republican legislative leaders this morning outlined their plan to reform and "right size" state government.
The plan calls for cutting the state's workforce by 5 percent, merging state agencies and freezing state employee wages for two years, among other reductions.
One thing it doesn't include: an increase in taxes. House Republican Leader Lawrence Cafero and his counterpart in the state Senate, John McKinney, did not rule out raising taxes. But both men said the conversation about how to deal with the state's budget crisis has to begin with reducing the scope and size of state government.
"We believe the level of taxes we have right now [is] certainly sufficient and in some cases, too great,'' McKinney said at a late morning press briefing.