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Amid political challenges on the state and federal level, Gov. Kathy Hochul is also trying to close a deal on her $252 billion spending package known as the state budget.
The April 1 deadline is fast approaching, and the Democratic-led state legislature is poised to release its own counterproposals.
“The emphasis on affordability, it’s a good thing to be focused on,” Patrick Orecki, director of State Studies at the fiscal watchdog group the Citizens Budget Commission, said.
Hochul wants to:
“Because of the increase in crime over the past couple of years, this has changed people’s attitudes about this dramatically,” Hochul said on March 4 during a press conference in Albany.
Budget experts warn Hochul must start planning for factors outside her control.
“The state’s budget is made up, more than a third of it, from federal funds,” Orecki said. “So, direct federal money to the state for its big spending programs, especially in healthcare. So any changes in Medicaid or the essential plan or things that the state relies on a lot of federal funding for would completely change the state’s fiscal outlook.”
Also on the table: school funding, impacts of federal employee layoffs and a possible congestion pricing reversal.
“At least the president didn’t declare ‘drop dead to the city’ —although, wait, actually he did. That’s exactly what Donald Trump did a couple weeks ago when he says that he’s killed congestion pricing ‘long live the king,’” Hochul said on Thursday at the Citizens Budget Commission’s annual gala.
Convincing state legislators to greenlight Hochul’s plan to give New Yorkers checks is also not easy.
“I don’t think that’s the best bang for our buck. I think we can use that excess sales tax revenue in other places. There are one-shots we can fill here. I don’t think that’s the best way we can use the money, but we’re open to negotiation,” Democratic State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi from Queens said.
The governor must also decide: will she or won’t she prioritize state legislation to curb Mayor Eric Adams’s power over City Hall.
“I still believe there’s a lot of people that are very concerned about the influence of Washington on our city,” Hochul said on March 4.
Striking correctional officers demanding a reevaluation of the state’s controversial HALT ACT and multiple inmate deaths have also forced Hochul to consider action to clean up the prison system.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are expected to reveal their counter proposals next week.
