Dear New Yorkers,

Monday was “Tin Cup Day” as they call it – the annual State budget hearing where representatives from municipalities all over New York go to Albany and make budget requests. It’s one of many steps in the long budget cycle.

I made the trip and testified yesterday at the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees about Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget. As Comptroller, it’s my duty to provide comprehensive oversight of the City’s budget, which is of course impacted by the State budget.

In my testimony, I explain why we need to combine strong fiscal management with wise public policy, so we can avoid steep cuts to critical services, balance our budgets, and invest in the infrastructure to ensure a thriving, diverse New York City.

I’ll be pushing aggressively through the City budget process this year to try to make that a reality, but New York State also has to play its part.

Here are a few key points from my testimony yesterday on Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget:

• We need more help from the State to receive and support asylum seekers. While we continue to push for increased federal aid, the State should split the remaining costs evenly with New York City and provide fifty percent, not thirty percent, of the City’s budgeted costs.

• Last year, the Governor and the legislature failed to reach a deal on housing. I hope this year will be different. We need a housing deal with more production, stronger tenant protections, and more housing vouchers.

• We also need a more robust mental health infrastructure to provide the services necessary to keep people healthy and safe. New York State should increase Medicaid payments to cover the full cost of hospital care, particularly for inpatient psychiatric beds which are still not at pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, I’m pushing for stronger management that will help close outyear gaps without cuts to essential services, address the housing affordability crisis, and set New York on a strong economic footing for the years ahead.

It’s up to our City and State governments to work together and deliver for New Yorkers. Read my full testimony from yesterday’s budget hearing here, and you can be sure I’ll be back with more updates as the budget process continues.

Thanks,

Brad

P.S. Now is the time for bold action to create housing that is genuinely affordable for New Yorkers—and stays that way! Was proud to stand with State Senator Cordell Cleare, Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, and the Housing Justice for All coalition as they introduced new social housing legislation in Albany yesterday.