Albany Democrats appear to be ignoring warnings from the Comptroller
A weekly COLUMN by NY State Senator Tom O’Mara,
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has been on a veto binge over the last several few weeks.
Last week I highlighted in this column how the governor had rejected a measure overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature, with strong bipartisan support, which would have directed the state fire administrator to move forward on establishing a specialized electric vehicle emergency response training program for first responders.
Turns out that wasn’t the only time Governor Hochul was picking up her veto pen. According to Spectrum News late last week, “The governor squashed a variety of proposals in the last two weeks that could address affordability, including insurance reforms, health-related bills, and other proposals.”
The report continued that the governor has issued more than two dozen vetoes during the past month alone and “mainly cited fiscal concerns” as the reason why.
In vetoing the first responders training legislation, for example, Governor Hochul’s veto message stated, “While I find the goal of expanding EV training laudable, this bill would require the expenditure of funds that are not accounted for in the State’s financial plan.”
That’s essentially been the common refrain from the governor’s office lately: we don’t know if the state can afford it.
No surprise and it’s mainly a symptom – and a consequence — of what’s been bringing this state down for seven years now: a “just keep spending now and we’ll figure it out later” approach to fiscal policy that’s coming home to roost and has clearly put this state in a tough spot heading into next year. The responsibility to figure it out has arrived.
Remember that Albany Democrats began this year continuously touting one priority: affordability. They started the year off by saying, repeatedly, that it was all about affordability and affordability only. Of course they had no choice but to say it with statewide polling and national rankings telling the story that New Yorkers were – and still are — overwhelmingly concerned about making ends meet, and that New York was and still is holding its position as one of America’s least affordable states.
By the time Governor Hochul and the Democrat-led Legislature put the finishing touches on the final 2025-2026 state budget in May, affordability was nowhere in sight. It totaled upwards of $254 billion and increased state spending by at least $15 billion over last year. Above all, it simply continued their spend it now and figure it out later approach to governing that, since 2019, has increased state spending by approximately $85 billion! That’s nearly a 50% increase in the overall state budget in just seven years, which is the period that Albany Democrats have held one-party control of all of state government. By contrast, the prior seven-year period when we had a Republican majority in the state Senate, the annual budget increases were in the two to three percent range.
So, the time to figure it out has arrived. Governor Hochul’s recent spree of vetoes is previewing what’s in store for next year.
Among others, the state comptroller shared the concern. Shortly after the adoption of the state’s new spending plan, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said, “The budget includes significant state-funded increases…and authorizes an additional $23 billion in public authority backdoor borrowing. General aid for local governments is largely flat, despite growing signs of fiscal strain at the local level…The time to develop a strategy and structural reforms is before a crisis, yet this budget includes no serious cost containment measures…close monitoring will be needed to ensure that the state is on a sustainable path and able to navigate the challenges ahead.”
Albany Democrats have ignored the economic and fiscal warnings on the horizon and kept on increasing state government spending and handouts with no worry about tomorrow.
Except that the time to worry about tomorrow is on the doorstep. For the sake of state taxpayers, let’s hope it’s not too late.
