(WSJ) — The Paterson administration, under mounting pressure from county governments owed hundreds of millions of dollars by the state, is promising local officials that Albany will wipe out a backlog of unpaid bills by the end of August.
The governor’s office made that assurance Monday as it sought to contain a revolt by county leaders, who have threatened to cut off their mandated weekly Medicaid payments to Albany unless the state rapidly cleared its debt to local governments.