Senator James Seward

As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, I have been front and center during state budget hearings that have just concluded. The hearings encompassed 11 days and countless hours drilling down into every aspect of the governor’s budget proposal.

While the hearings can be tedious and long at times, they are a crucial exercise to learn about the intricacies of the budget proposal. State commissioners, policy experts, nonprofit groups and advocates for various issues testified regarding the governor’s spending plan and how it will affect various aspects of life in New York. As I questioned the witnesses, I focused on several key priorities — economic opportunities, affordability and equal support for all regions of the state.

I was unsatisfied with many of the answers to my questions. Moving forward, I will be advocating for a number of changes to the governor’s proposal.

The next step in the process is budget subcommittees. Essentially, the committees take a specific portion of the governor’s budget proposal, dissect it line by line, place it under a microscope and fine tune the plan to make sure it is fiscally sound and in line with public priorities.

Next, both the Senate and the Assembly will pass their own budget resolutions. Then additional negotiations between the two houses and the governor will take place before a final plan is enacted. If all goes as planned, we will have a new state budget by the end of March, prior to the start of the new fiscal year on April 1.

I want to see an on-time budget, but more importantly, we need a fiscally responsible plan that holds the line on taxes and spending AND creates new opportunities for economic growth.

One of the concerns I have pointed to on several occasions is the outmigration our state is suffering from. According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, New York has lost nearly 1.4 million people to the rest of the country since 2010. While the governor tries to sell us on the weather as the reason for the population loss, the facts are quite different. People leave because of excessive taxes, high cost of living and lack of opportunities. Every day I hear from more individuals and business owners who are ready to pack up and move out.

New York’s state budget must address these concerns and offer a roadmap that will help lead us toward a brighter future. We need policies that will help the people and businesses who have remained loyal to the state while also drawing others back to our borders.

In 2019, I joined with my Senate Republicans colleagues to advocate for a final budget that would accelerate the middle class tax cuts, make the property tax rebate checks permanent, reduce the cost of doing business in New York and help make our streets and schools safer. The final plan failed on these fronts and instead included tax increases, fee increases and disastrous criminal justice reforms. I voted NO on the budget.

This year, I will continue to fight for lower income taxes, lower costs for small businesses to help them grow and create job opportunities and significant property tax relief measures. The budget also needs to make wise investments in our upstate roads and bridges, rural broadband and cell phone service, education, the environment and health care.

A few other specialized areas that need to be a focus include workforce development, agriculture and veterans’ services. The governor’s budget shortchanges these key items and I am working to rectify that deficiency.

We also cannot lose sight on the need to repeal and rework the bail/discovery laws that are wreaking havoc with the bail system, costing counties and putting public safety and our police officers at risk.

Additional information regarding the budget process, along with the Senate Republican analysis of the governor’s proposal, is available on my website, www.seward.nysenate.gov.

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