DEFICIT AWAITS PATAKI PLAN, GROUP SAYS.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: JAMES M. ODATO Capitol bureau

If someone unseats George Pataki in November, that new governor will inherit the largest deficit in the state's history, according to a report on Pataki's new budget plan.

The report, from the union-supported Fiscal Policy Institute in Latham, warns that history may repeat itself and a big budget surplus will lead to a spending spree that puts the state in the red again.

``New York also had a large cash surplus in 1994,'' recalled Frank Mauro, director of the institute. ``This signal of `good times' led to a budget agreement that substantially increased the state's structural deficit.''

In fact, the …