Thursday, October 1, 2026
How does a state budget grow by $9 billion after it has already been passed?
In Albany, it’s surprisingly easy. First you vote on it, and then you release the financial plan and hope nobody notices the difference.
This month’s overdue release of the state financial plan by the Division of the Budget revealed a staggering $277 billion final spending number, $9 billion more than what Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats debated, voted on and publicly celebrated. It’s also nearly a 10 percent increase over last year’s $254 billion budget.
A significant portion of the increase is tied to New York’s expansion of the Essential Plan, a state health insurance program that covers more than 1.4 million low-income residents, including illegal immigrants. While state officials point to federal changes and court rulings as justification, the result is a larger reliance on temporary funding to sustain ongoing health care costs.
The financial plan is supposed to be the roadmap that provides a comprehensive summary of the spending contained in all 10 budget bills the Legislature votes on. It outlines how much money is being appropriated and where it’s going. It would make sense, then, for this information to be available before lawmakers cast their votes.
Instead we were forced to vote on budget bills without knowing the full fiscal impact. Nine billion dollars is hardly pocket change, but still, it was quietly added into the budget with zero transparency — yet another example of the reckless and irresponsible approach Albany takes when developing its annual spending plan.
The financial plan arrived after the game was already over and everyone had gone home, more than two weeks after the Legislature voted on the state budget. It has become routine for legislators to vote on budget bills during the final days of the process, without sufficient access to the financial plan. A slimmed-down financial plan — in this case, an inaccurate one — is often provided hours or minutes before votes are cast, making it impossible to analyze the true fiscal implications.
A $9 billion discrepancy isn’t a negligible accounting error. This was a miss by an amount roughly equal to the entire annual budget of Vermont. And while state leaders insist this is all in the name of “helping New Yorkers,” families see a different reality. Life is getting more expensive, not less. Many New Yorkers are barely getting by.
Under one-party rule, state spending has ballooned by over $100 billion, and the consequences of that extravagant spending are apparent. The financial plan projects widening budget gaps in the years ahead, with deficits totaling $31.6 billion due to the growing imbalance between planned spending and expected revenues.
Sooner or later, the bill comes due. To close these massive gaps, lawmakers will be forced to make painful choices, either cutting services families rely on, raising taxes on hardworking New Yorkers, or both.
Next year alone, New York is projected to face a $6.4 billion shortfall if it continues funding programs at current levels. These gaps will only worsen as state leaders spend billions of dollars they don’t have, expand programs without a sustainable funding plan and delay necessary course corrections.
Albany’s “shoot, ready, aim” approach to spending taxpayer dollars is wholly unacceptable, and it’s why I have sponsored legislation (A.3940) requiring a full financial plan to be provided before budget bills are advanced. This would ensure that legislators are well-informed about our state’s financial position, promoting transparency and enabling more informed decision-making on state spending.
Clearly, just like the financial plan, this reform is overdue, and it’s time for the Legislature to take it seriously. Until Albany starts treating taxpayer dollars with the same care New Yorkers treat their own paychecks, these budget failures will continue to come at the public’s expense.
Ed Ra, of Franklin Square, represents the 19th Assembly District and is the Assembly’s minority leader.
