Today, the Citizens Budget Commission is releasing its letter recommending the State Legislature take specific actions on the Fiscal Year 2024 Executive Budget to ensure New York remains an attractive place to live and work with a compelling value proposition: quality cost-effective core services funded by reasonably competitive taxes, fiscal stability to stave off massive future cuts, and increased affordability.

CBC’s recommendations are rooted in key economic and fiscal realities: 

• New York’s competitiveness to attract and retain residents and businesses may well be more threatened now than any time in the last 50 years, with the COVID-19 pandemic providing evidence that some can enjoy life, successfully work, or run a business outside of New York; 
• The economic outlook continues to be uncertain; 
• State Operations Funds (SOF) spending increases a massive 12.2 percent this year, and 4.3 percent annually over the financial plan; 
• Spending is outstripping receipts over time and gaps are papered over with one-shots; 
• The Executive Budget results in a gap of $7.2 billion in fiscal year 2027 and drives a structural deficit exceeding $14 billion to be exposed in fiscal year 2028; and 
• New York has the nation's highest top personal income and business tax rates, when combined with City and MTA region tax rates. 

To bolster New York’s competitiveness and ability to protect and consistently provide services to New Yorkers in need, the top priority should be to stabilize State finances, pave the path to lower taxes, and ensure basic transparency so New Yorkers know how their money is spent. CBC recommends that the budget: 

1. Restrain annual SOF spending growth to 2 percent to structurally balance the budget by fiscal year 2028;
2. Don’t raise taxes—reject the corporate tax surcharge extension and future dependence on the personal income tax surcharge; 
3. Accelerate Rainy Day Fund deposits and further improve the Fund’s structure, as the Governor wisely proposed; and 
4. Publish basic financial plan tables with the Legislative one-house budgets and the Enacted Budget when voted on. 

To deliver critical services, increase affordability, restrain spending, and improve the State’s budgeting and fiscal management, CBC also recommends that the budget:

• Reject the proposal to shift Medicaid costs onto local governments, and empower a Health System Reform task force to put Medicaid on a fiscally sustainable path; 
• Target all school aid based on need, reduce aid to wealthy districts that fund a sound basic education with local resources, and eliminate hold harmless provisions that ensure state aid increases year-over-year;
• Shrink rather than expand the film tax credit, reject State borrowing for Belmont Park, and reject extension of New York City economic development incentives absent rigorous evaluation of their effectiveness; 
• Boost statewide housing production by supporting the Governor’s housing plan, including the New York State Housing Compact and transit-oriented development; 
• Ensure at least one-half of any plan to stabilize the MTA’s operating budget comes from labor productivity, with the remaining from the State budget, and appropriately apportioned regional support; 
• Prioritize cost-effective investments in the energy transition and resiliency; 
• Establish a public, comprehensive performance measurement and management system to ensure the State’s $220+ billion in spending delivers real results for New Yorkers; 
• Reject proposed Executive universal appropriation transfer authority and lump sum appropriations; and 
• Require non-budget bills with fiscal impacts be accompanied by multi-year fiscal impact estimates.