(WIVB) State leaders warn we could soon see drastic cuts being made as a result of the pandemic.Governor Cuomo is calling on the federal government to financially support the states.

Cuomo says money will be needed to reopen economies, but warns without that funding, we could see cuts to schools, police and even hospitals.

“The state now has about a 15 billion dollar deficit, somewhere between 10-and 15 billion dollars deficit. I don’t have any funding to do what I normally do. I normally fund schools. You’ll see a 50% cut in education. You’ll see a cut to hospitals, in the midst of all of this,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo added that he and a bipartisan group of governors are asking for 500-billion-dollars from Washington to help them through the crisis.