ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul signed off on a record-smashing $254 billion state budget deal Friday — though a lack of transparency in the budget process and an uncertain economic picture could only see it soar higher.
The budget is $15 billion more than last year, or a nearly 6% jump.
But the governor’s budget office historically does not immediately release a breakdown of costs and anticipated revenue to back up the projected figure.
“As reported previously, the All Governmental Funds number for Fiscal Year 2026 is projected to be $254 billion,” a rep for Hochul’s budget office told The Post.
So some sources in the legislature, without giving specifics, warned that number could balloon slightly when the updated financial plan is published.
“Things can shift and move a little bit, but I think that’s just another piece of evidence as to why they should publish a basic version of the budget tables before they even vote on the spending plan,” said Patrick Orecki, Director of State Studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, to The Post Friday.
While Orecki says he doesn’t see any evidence to suggest sneaky budget gimmicks are at play here, the spending plan is also susceptible to significant broadsides from the feds and the economy overall.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli ripped Hochul and the legislature for ignoring potential looming crises while planning to spend more, including a nearly $7 billion transfer of funds out of reserves to pay off debt owed to the feds for a pandemic era loan to help cover unemployment insurance benefits.
“The time to develop a strategy and structural reforms is before a crisis, yet this budget includes no serious cost-containment measures,” DiNapoli wrote in a statement Friday.
Hochul insisted earlier this week that spending the reserves was necessary because she says the state is in the midst of an economic downturn, which she blames on President Trump.
“I’m doing this to help the businesses prepare to weather the storm that we are entering. I think we’re in for a recession,” Hochul said.
