More comptroller oversight is needed on NY state budget

As New York's legislature prepares to end its annual session, which has gotten progressively shorter over the years, there may be a benefit to the lawmakers leaving town. The less they're in Albany, the less damage they can do.

The rest of the state is trying to digest a $254 billion budget passed last month that remains an opaque bundle of significant revenue promises and enormous spending. More than $1.5 billion of expenditures approved in the budget are exempt from any review by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Other projects funded in the budget don’t require competitive bidding. And billions of dollars more fall into lump-sum categories where spending breakdowns aren’t available and the specifics remain unknown.

That certainly doesn’t fulfill Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2021 promise of a "new era of greater transparency and accountability."

A Hochul spokesman has noted that the governor’s budget is "abiding by all applicable state laws." That suggests a disappointing willingness to do the bare minimum and nothing more because state laws are pretty weak when it comes to budgetary oversight. In years past, the legislature has passed bills that would have expanded DiNapoli's oversight authority and strengthened the very laws on accountability and disclosure by which Hochul claims to be abiding. But as recently as last December, Hochul vetoed those efforts.

State officials emphasize they need to be able to act with speed, saying a comptroller’s review slows them down. But there's been no evidence such extra steps hold up Albany's ability to act and, when necessary, DiNapoli has shown he can prioritize key contracts. Most reviews take six or seven days. At the same time, pausing even for a short time might mean not making a mistake or entering into a bad contract. Hochul administration officials have noted that DiNapoli has the power to conduct audits after the fact. But by then, it's often too late.

The effort to hide funds from independent review or exempt them from typical bidding processes is nothing new. The practice was even more extensive under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, but since taking office, Hochul hasn’t done much better. This year, in a fragile political climate in which federal funds remain an enormous question mark, such a move is more fraught. The state budget is subject to potential cuts from the Trump administration and the new federal budget. When uncertainty seems to hang over every dollar Albany spends, it would be wise for Hochul to make more conservative budget decisions that are open to careful examination by DiNapoli, as the state’s watchdog, and the general public.

The $254 billion budget Hochul and the legislature celebrated last month represents the public's money, including plenty from Long Islanders' pockets. Just as we must evaluate every policy Hochul and the legislature are now finalizing at the session's end, we should know and understand how every budgeted dollar will be spent — before it's spent.