Remember that cabin porch scene in “My Cousin Vinny” where Marisa Tomei frantically complains about the “tick-tick-ticking” of her biological clock?
I’ll never forget Joe Pesci’s exasperated response. “I’ve got a judge that’s just aching to throw me in jail, an idiot who wants to fight me for two hundred dollars, slaughtered pigs, giant loud whistles. I ain’t slept in five days, I got no money, a dress code problem, and a little murder case which, in the balance, holds the lives of two innocent kids.”
Then he pointedly asks, “What else can we pile on?”
That’s what the state budget process feels like this year. Despite all of New York’s very serious financial problems, we have the governor and majority just piling more on.
Our state Legislature has one job: pass a balanced state budget by April 1. As of this letter, that budget is eleven days late and counting. And not only is it late, it’s also a total failure.
At a time when millions of New Yorkers are worried about the market, their jobs, runaway government spending, and skyrocketing taxes, Gov. Hochul has actually proposed a budget totaling more than a quarter of a trillion dollars.
Her $252 billion budget represents a staggering $8.6 billion increase over last year. And incredibly, even that level of spending is not enough for the Senate majority. Their disconnected proposal pushes that number even higher to a whopping $259 billion, a stunning $17 billion more than the year before. Even if you flunked math back in high school, these budgets fly in the face of any common sense.
That’s not monopoly money. A 13 % spending increase has to be paid for somehow. That means higher taxes on your income, higher taxes on businesses, and higher taxes on fuel.
It conveniently ignores that we already bear the highest combined tax burden in America. They’ll tell you that there are no tax increases, but every dollar that the government spends comes out of your pocket – including their proposed increase. And frankly, their unwillingness to admit how this is going to hurt us sends a distinct message – they simply do not care.
New Yorkers hear that message loud and clear as they flee to states with lower taxes. As a result, our state has already lost one Congressional seat. If the trend continues, we will lose two more after the 2030 census. Yet no one bats an eyelash.
I happen to remember when Republicans were in the Senate majority because I was actually there. At that time, both sides worked with Gov. Cuomo to control growth by operating under a self-imposed 2% spending cap. We held ourselves to the same limits that we require of our schools and municipalities. Unfortunately, there is no appetite for self-restraint in Albany today.
In 2018, state spending amounted to $8,597 per person. Today, that number sits at $12,986, an additional cost of $4,389 per New Yorker in just 7 years. With these spending increases, one could reasonably expect substantial improvements in services and infrastructure. Instead, we see the opposite: crumbling roads, struggling and unsafe transit systems, underfunded schools, and strained healthcare systems.
Their readiness to pass such a budget while pushing rising costs onto everyday New Yorkers belies a troubling disrespect for our state’s working people. There is virtually no accountability, and they seem content to let that be. Where does this end?
My simply calling this budget irresponsible would be an understatement. It yet again takes more from New Yorkers beyond what they can afford and fails to make our state any safer or more affordable.
Spending increases without an improvement in services and infrastructure is just adding insult to injury. If what’s past is prologue, the governor and majorities in Albany are set to “pile on.”
