Albany – Something is missing!
Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal for the state appears to be nearly $9 billion larger than initial claims, bringing the total to a staggering $277 billion, which is already record-breaking and, frankly, behind schedule.
House Minority Leader Ed La (R-Nassau) expressed his outrage in a pointed statement, saying, “It seems like Democrats needed to pass the state budget just to figure out what was actually in it.” He added, “Albany Democrats wanted blank checks from New York state taxpayers, but they did it without transparency. Sure, reversing the budget may be their strategy, but it doesn’t really help families who rely on the checks.”
A significant portion of this increase—around $7 billion of the $8.5 billion hike—is linked to the state’s decision to allocate about $10 billion in cash for health insurance benefits for approximately 1.4 million individuals who were previously covered under a mandatory state program.
This fund also targets noncitizens, including green card holders, known informally as the “Alyssa population.” A court ruling mandates that the state provide some form of insurance for them, though federal Medicaid funds are currently off-limits due to last year’s H.R. 1 legislation.
It’s worth noting that the Trump administration had specifically restricted states like New York from utilizing federal Medicaid funds for noncitizen healthcare, yet, surprisingly, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved this maneuver earlier this year.
Last month, Hochul stated that a consensus on a national budget of $268 billion had been reached, assuring reporters that “everything we do is fiscally responsible.”
Still, the plan leaves uncertain how these benefits will be funded after the $10 billion reserve runs out in December 2028. The details remain unclear, as Hochul’s office has skirted specific questions regarding how taxpayer money will be allocated, given that the Empire State’s budget is already at an unprecedented high.
In a statement to the Post, Hochul spokesperson Tim Ruffinen explained that “the updated total funds figure more accurately reflects additional federal funds, the majority of which recently became available for spending.”
