ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Governor Hochul is instructing her various state department commissioners to pump the breaks on spending increases for the 2025 fiscal year.
In a directive sent by state budget director Blake Washington, several items were cited for the administrations financial concerns as they look ahead to next years' budgets.
A spotty economic outlook, reduced state tax receipts and the humanitarian crisis related to the influx of asylum seekers being relocated to New York were a few of the specific reasons cited by the state budget office.
In the memo to commissioners, budget director Blake Washington said that revenue forecasts have been revised downward.
As a result, Hochul has instructed each state department to not exceed 2024 levels with their 2025 budget proposals.
"Hold the line," Hochul said. "We have to remind everyone that's after two solid years of record spending levels to make up for some cases, decades of disinvestment."
Right now, the state has around $19.5B set aside for a reserve funds.
"We have to be smart about our investments and not let the assumption be that we can always continue at that pace," Hochul said.
Ken Giradin, Director of Research at the Empire Center, applauded the Governor's directive, but also said there's a long way to go in order to fill the predicted $10B budget gap next year.
"This is a significant move by Governor Hochul. It's an acknowledgment that the $10 billion budget gap that the state is facing next year is a serious one," Giradin said. "It doesn't do everything, but it buys her credibility to go to the different groups that are counting on increases in next year's state budget."
Giradin says that if Governor Hochul is successful keeping every department budget flat next year, the state would save about $1 billion.
"The state of New York really went on a spending binge beginning about three years ago," Giradin said. "You're going to have groups that are expecting even more money next year, because after three budgets in a row, they've built up the expectation that they're going to keep getting more."
According to the state budget office, similar requests to keep budgets flat have been made 18 out the last 23 years.
State department budgets for FY2025 are due to the executive chamber on October 11.