“Gov. Hochul offered an executive budget proposal that one might expect in an election year: something for everyone and plenty of cash to dole out, thanks in part to billions in bailouts from Washington, D.C. On its surface, there’s a lot to like about a spending plan that makes significant investments in the health care workforce, education, childcare, infrastructure and small businesses.

But despite New York finally finding itself on sound financial footing, the governor offered no immediate answers to the worst inflation in 40 years. Accelerated tax cuts won’t go into effect until 2023. Property tax rebate checks won’t arrive until the fall and are eligible only to New Yorkers who own a home. Our cost-of-living crisis isn’t new, it hasn’t improved and it’s why we lead the nation in people leaving. Nothing in the executive budget changes that trajectory or addresses the current crisis. 

A year ago, the executive budget started at $196 billion. After the secretive and severely-flawed negotiating process, the final enacted budget ballooned to $212 billion – a new record for runaway spending. If one thing is certain under Albany’s One-Party Rule, it’s that ‘fiscal prudence’ has a way of getting lost between late January and April 1. Things need to change this year, because we cannot afford to go down that road yet again.”