838 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

Q. Mr. Speaker, do you agree with the Governor in his feeling that
there's a possibility the deficit figures are wrong?

A. Mr. Mandel: We just don't know. That's the simple answer to it.
Q. These figures, will they affect also fiscal '69?

A. They will probably affect the fiscal '69 budget, but of course
that doesn't go into effect until July 1, and the extent that they will
affect that we will decide between now and then.

Q. These economy measures, do they also affect the fiscal 1969
budget? By not allowing the additional positions to be filled, does
this mean for the remainder of this fiscal year too?

A. It may mean, it will probably mean, for fiscal '69, also, but there
will not be an arbitrary refusal. For example, if a new building has
already been constructed that's lying vacant, it would be ridiculous
to refuse to put the personnel in there to operate it. If a hospital has
a critical shortage in a position that is going to do violence to the
public health, it would be ridiculous to refuse to hire a man to take
care of that situation. It will have to be a selective cutback.

Q. May we have any indication as to how much money can be saved
by these economy measures?

A. Well, it becomes a matter of stating what percentage the agencies
have to save. We have the ability to say, "You must save up to 25
percent of your budget. "

Q. Could you do this for the remainder of this year?

A. Well, obviously, you couldn't do this for the remainder of this
year. There would be very little effect that can be made, compara-
tively, this year because there only remains less than a month.

Q. Can the blame for this be laid to anyone?

A. I don't have any idea, and we can't assess the blame until we
know what the problem is. As of the moment, we can't lay our
finger on the reason for this very unusual shortage of $66 million that's
suddenly come to light since February 18.

Q. Governor, what would be the effect on the State of these sub-
stantial economies, the overall effect?

A. Well, that's difficult to say until we find out exactly where the
cutbacks take place.