Nearly eight weeks after its original deadline, the New York State Legislature passed a state budget on Thursday. The Governor’s Office released this information on the approved spending plan.
Local elected leaders are offering their reactions to the approved spending plan:
State Senator Pamela Helming:
“This was the latest budget adopted in 16 years. It required 15 budget extenders to keep government operating. After all the delays, our families, seniors, and local businesses had every right to expect better.
This budget kicks too many problems down the road instead of addressing them head-on. It does not seriously address growing concerns about electric capacity, grid reliability, or the long-term affordability of energy. And while this budget promotes temporary gimmicks like the so-called POWER rebates, it does little to address the underlying policies and mandates that continue driving up utility costs and taxes.
The budget also fails to adequately support rural healthcare providers and emergency services. In fact, funding intended to support important public protection services, including volunteer fire companies and EMS providers, was reduced by millions of dollars. And if that’s not bad enough, a significant portion of the cell phone surcharge intended to support fire and EMS is being swept into the general fund.
New Yorkers deserved more than temporary fixes and gimmicks. That’s why I will continue fighting for policies that lower costs, strengthen public safety, and support the people and communities that make Upstate New York strong.”
State Senator Tom O’Mara:
“New York State taxpayers today and long into the future already face trying to afford, live, and work under a bloated, wasteful, and unaffordable state government. New York is already one of the highest taxed, heavily mandated, overregulated, and least affordable states in America. This budget makes it worse.
“It increases spending by at least fourteen billion dollars but fails to include a shred of meaningful tax relief, mandate relief, debt relief, or spending restraint. It fails to address key priorities in energy policy, health care, public safety, and so many other fundamentally important areas.
“This budget acts like New York taxpayers and families shouldn’t have a care in the world in the face of the worst affordability crisis they have ever faced. It’s a budget built on bailouts and giveaways to special interests and favored constituencies that everyday taxpayers will never be able to afford.
“It ignores the ratepayers who can’t afford their unrelenting utility bills and instead tries to buy off the wrath of these ratepayers by giving them back pennies in so-called ‘energy rebates’ after the state has already collected billions from these same ratepayers through surcharges on their monthly utility bills for years on end.
“This budget ignores homeowners and seniors still struggling to make ends meet in a state with one of the heaviest property tax burdens in America. It refuses to take any meaningful action to rein in the nation’s highest per-capita Medicaid spending under a system that allows unchecked abuse, fraud, and waste.
“For the past seven years under one-party, all-Democrat control, New York’s taxpayers, families, and job creators have been sending the message that this state is on the wrong track and that they can no longer afford to live, work, raise a family, or start a small business here.
“It’s time to bring this state’s budget adoption process into the modern day. The state budget demands a full public airing and the appropriate time for review and debate, but that’s never what we get. It’s a broken process that blindfolds the public and keeps producing bloated state budgets that taxpayers will never be able to afford.”
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli:
“Families across New York are struggling to keep up with everyday costs. This budget helps ease some of that burden. It also makes important investments in healthcare, housing and education, and gives critical aid to New York City and upstate communities.
“The budget takes action to alleviate utility cost burdens and takes steps to reform the rate-setting process to elevate consumer affordability concerns. I was pleased to see new protections for our immigrants that will help inoculate our communities from some of the hurtful policies that continue to come from the Trump administration.
“We’re evaluating the procurement changes that increased the thresholds for when contracts must come to us for review and when a contract must be competitively bid. Our office rigorously scrutinizes state procurements and agency spending to protect the taxpayers from waste, fraud and abuse. Limiting these abilities can hurt taxpayers.
“This budget process went far past the April 1 deadline, and I’m concerned this is becoming the new norm. As spending increases, out-year budget gaps could put future priorities at risk.
“My office will review the final enacted budget and release an analysis in the coming weeks.”
