It’s time for Gov. Cuomo to put some money behind his ambitions.
Two weeks after Cuomo outlined sweeping proposals to extend the school day, add pre-K programs, buy the damaged homes of hurricane victims and launch other pricey initiatives in his State of the State address, he’s due to propose a budget on Tuesday that will explain how he plans to pay for it all — while also confronting a $1 billion deficit.
“What we have seen so far is a long list of agenda items,” said Elizabeth Lynam, director of state studies for the Citizens Budget Commission. “The big question is how are these things going to fit together in a financial plan.”
Administration officials were tight-lipped Monday about the details of Cuomo’s budget address but the governor has said he will not propose any tax hikes and will limit the growth of state taxpayer-supported spending to 2%.
The governor and lawmakers have also previously pledged to increase school aid and health care spending by 4%.
“I wouldn’t say there’s any big surprises,” Cuomo said about the budget in a radio interview last week.
Cuomo’s State of the State speech, however, included a host of big-ticket proposals, including expanded full-day pre-kindergarten for high-needs students, longer school days or years and up to $15,000 in bonuses for high-performing teachers.
The governor also proposed a buyout program for storm-ravaged homeowners, a $1 billion affordable housing program and a $1 billion “Green Bank” to promote clean technology.
Fiscal watchdogs said Cuomo’s proposals could cost billions of dollars at a time when the state is grappling with a still-sluggish economy.
“I will be interested to see how he makes it all work,” said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for Public Policy.
“The arithmetic is pretty simple and there is no miraculous economic event on the horizon that makes [the state’s budget deficit] go way,” McMahon said.
“The biggest problem for the state is the enormous, recurring structural budget gap starting next year and into the future,” said E.J. McMahon of the conservative-leaning Empire Center. “Cuomo clearly hopes that starting in 2021, (Democratic presidential candidate Joseph) Biden and a Democratic Congress will provide states and local government a couple of year’s worth of added stimulus. Read More
Ed McKinley
ALBANY — When the New York Constitution was reorganized nearly 100 years ago to give the governor more power over the budget process, noted there was a risk of making “the governor a czar."
M Read More
Michael Gormley
ALBANY — A new study by a conservative think tank says President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law gave most New Yorkers a tax cut, even as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo insists on repealing the measure because he says it will cost New Yo Read More
Johan Sheridan
ALBANY, N.Y. () — The Empire Center filed a against the state Department of Health on Friday.
“This case isn’t about assigning blame or embarrassing political leaders,” said Bill Hammond, the Empire Center’s Read More
The Empire Center first reported Tuesday that grants — 226 of them, totaling $46 million, to recipients selected by the governor and individual state lawmakers — seemed to still be going ahead. Read More
With lingering questions about how the novel coronavirus killed thousands of New Yorkers who lived in nursing homes, a group of state lawmakers is pushing to create an independent commission to get answers from the state Department of Health. Read More
“The importance of discussing this and getting the true facts out is to understand what did and didn’t happen so we can learn from it in case this happens again,” Hammond said. Read More
No doubt, the Health Department and the governor would like this report to be the final word on the subject.
But if it’s all the same with them, we’d still like a truly independent review. Read More