It’s that time of year again–budget negotiation time, as lawmakers hammer out deals on how much the city and state governments should spend, and on what. City Council members have until the start of the next fiscal year, on July 1, to agree on a plan for the city’s spending. Mayor Bloomberg released a $68.7 billion preliminary budget proposal in February, which he boasted would close a $2 billion budget gap without raising taxes.

But not everyone, of course, is happy with the Mayor’s plan. Bronx City Council Member Annabel Palma, who represents Parkchester, Soundview, Castle Hill, and Classon Point, and heads the Council’s General Welfare Committee, rallied this morning on the steps of City Hall against cuts proposed to a number of the city’s social service programs.

Bloomberg’s budget, Palma said in a press release, would slash the budgets for a number of agencies and programs that serve the neediest and most vulnerable New Yorkers; many cuts that were restored in last year’s round of budget negotiations are again on the chopping block this year.

“Unfortunately, last year’s budget included many one-year fixes and that’s why we stand here today yet again to rally against those cuts that will directly and negatively impact the already-strained programs that many New Yorkers have to come rely on,” Palma said.

The Mayor’s proposal would reduce funding for the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, cutting slots for child care and after-school programs, and laying off about 100 Child Protective staff positions. Funding for case managers and supportive housing for residents living with HIV/AIDS could be cut by several million dollars, as would the budget of the Department of Homeless Services, which runs the city’s shelter system.

“We cannot continue to balance the budget by slashing social services and I hope that this is the year that the Administration will work with the Council to find long-term solutions that will allow our City to continue to provide a robust social safety net,” Palma said.

Up in Albany, meanwhile, state lawmakers announced Tuesday that they’d reached a budget deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, just a few days before their April 1 deadline. The $132.6 billion budget, which the legislature is expected to adopt Friday, includes significant investments to improving the state’s roads and bridges, and in creating jobs in infrastructure through a newly-created “New York Works” initiative.

Local officials, including Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn, praised the plan as good for New York City. It will increase funding for city schools, fund improvement projects planned by the MTA, launch a program to keep the city’s juvenile offenders in local custody and increase aid to CUNY community colleges, according to a statement by Quinn.

“City taxpayers are winners today in Albany,” Bloomberg said in a press release.

State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr., however, is blasting cuts to the State’s EPIC program, which helps senior citizens pay for their prescription drug costs. “You are abusing our senior citizens,” Diaz said on the Senate floor. “You did it last year and you are doing it this year.”

You can watch the rest of his testimony in the video below.