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New York’s gubernatorial election is less than 16 weeks away, but both Gov. Kathy Hochul and her GOP challenger Bruce Blakeman have largely escaped questions about one of the most substantial tasks New York’s governor will face next year: how he or she will balance the budget.
Because with outlays soaring on the state’s priciest programs — Medicaid and school aid — the state is in dangerous territory.
The spending plan approved in late May, nearly two months after the official deadline, continued Albany’s multi-year practice of hiking expenditures substantially faster than inflation.
Even as the economy, and tax receipts have grown faster than expected, Albany has been spending money as fast as it comes in.
State officials already estimate a $6 billion mismatch between revenues and expenses in the fiscal year that will begin April 1.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post
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Ken Girardin is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.