A preliminary report from New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli analyzing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget indicates that more help will be needed to balance it in 2021.
“The pandemic has caused unimaginable suffering and loss, and its ongoing toll is dauntingly unquantifiable as the crisis rages,” DiNapoli said. “As the proposed budget makes clear, New York has been hit hard. The consequences of the pandemic will be with us for a long time and federal funds have been essential in shoring up the state’s finances, but more is needed. While the outlook for state tax revenues has improved somewhat, any shortfall in anticipated federal assistance would drive undesirable budgetary choices that hurt New Yorkers.”
New York’s Medicaid program is also a growing issue. Enrollment grew by 12% between March and November in 2020.
Estimates at this point suggest that budget gaps could grow to $48 billion in the next five years.
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