The Hochul Administration has finally released an overdue budget report—which, on first look, shows the state’s fiscal outlook virtually unchanged.
The state Budget Division around noon today (a federal holiday, three days after Election Day) released the Mid-Year Financial Plan Update, which was due on October 30.
The update is important because it includes projections of revenue and spending levels beyond the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2023, which show whether the state faces future budget gaps.
The combination of significant spending increases in the past two state budgets, along with recent economic turmoil, made it possible if not likely that the state would face increased budget gaps and need to soon pursue significant spending cuts or tax increases. But the Budget Division appears to have ignored everything that has transpired in the state, national, and global economies in recent months and left its personal income tax receipt forecasts for fiscal 2024 through 2027 unchanged.
That doesn’t seem to align with concerns raised by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli in a budget report issued earlier this week, in which DiNapoli warned that PIT collections would drop 7 percent between FY23 and FY24—far more than the Budget Division previously expected.
The Budget Division’s update includes one notable piece of positive news, showing the current year’s personal income tax receipts are coming in about $1.5 billion higher than projected this summer—something which should inform future forecasts, but doesn’t appear to have.
A big question remains unanswered: if there was no major news in the mid-year update, why did the Hochul Administration violate state law and delay it by almost two weeks?
About the Author
You may also like
Two Dozen School Districts Are Returning to the Polls for Budget Revotes
Voters in 24 New York school districts return to the polls on Tuesday for school budget revotes. Last month, voters in 96 percent of school districts outside New York City conducting votes approved their school budgets for the upcoming year.
The 683 sc Read More
Even With Federal Cuts, New York’s Health Funding Would Remain High
New York's health-care industry stands to lose billions of dollars in federal funding under the major budget bill being debated in Washington – a rare and jarring turn of events for a sector accustomed to steadily increas Read More
House Budget Would Burst New York’s Essential Plan Bubble
The extraordinary cash bonanza associated with New York's Essential Plan – which has generated billions more than state officials were able to spend – would come to a crashing end under the budget bill advancing in Cong Read More
Feds Move To Close Medicaid’s ‘MCO Tax’ Loophole, Spelling Trouble for New York
New York's budget has sprung its first major leak just five days after being finalized by Governor Hochul and the Legislature.
On Tuesday, federal officials announced a that would Read More
Highlights of Albany’s Bloated and Belated Budget
The state Legislature approved the last of nine budget bills Thursday evening, 38 days after the start of the fiscal year. Here are some highlights of the fiscal impact of final spending plan:
Top lines
Read More
Forcing Homes to Switch to Electric Heat is not a Good Policy
New York has some of the most ambitious climate goals in the country: electric school buses by 2035, zero emissions electricity by 2040, etc. Why New Yorkers, who already consume less energy per capita than any state (other than Rhode Island), s Read More
How Albany Could Save Millions by Closing a Medicaid Loophole
A glitch in state insurance law is allowing doctors to collect Medicaid fees that are sometimes hundreds of times higher than the program normally pays, costing taxpayers millions of dollars a year.
Read More
After Tariff Shock, Albany Should Face its New Fiscal Reality
This year, for once, state lawmakers' failure to pass a timely budget could prove to be a stroke of luck.
When President Trump rolled out his on April 2, Albany leaders had not agreed on a spending plan for the f Read More