State lawmakers are set to miss Tuesday\u2019s budget deadline, and the bottom line is sure to be bloated, but some good may yet come out of it \u2014 if Gov. Kathy Hochul stands tough.<\/p>\n
The gov proposed a ginormous, $263 billion spending plan<\/a> for next year, up 4.5% from last year, including a wildly reckless 10% bump for Medicaid.<\/p>\n Spend-happy Assembly lawmakers want to add $3 billion on top of that, and state senators $10 billion \u2014 and both houses would slap New Yorkers with steep new tax hikes.<\/p>\n (They can\u2019t bankrupt the state soon enough.)<\/p>\n Yet Hochul is running for reelection on a vow to improve \u201caffordability\u201d; she\u2019s pledged to block both the income and corporate tax hikes Mayor Zohran Mamdani and lefty lawmakers are pushing<\/a>.<\/p>\n She\u2019d even end the state tax on tips, matching what President Donald Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill did for federal taxes.<\/p>\n Yet the gov has caved on key issues in years past; who knows if she\u2019ll the hold the line<\/a> now? <\/p>\n How pathetic, and tragic, if she surrenders on tax hikes.<\/p>\n Or abandons her push to bring down<\/a> lower auto-insurance rates by reining in abuses: She wants to crack down on criminals who stage crashes; cap payouts for drivers who commit crimes during an accident; limit what qualifies as a \u201cserious injury\u201d to avoid bonanza payouts for minor wounds, along with other reforms.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n Sadly, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman is backing trial lawyers and opposing Hochul\u2019s plan \u2014 pretending it\u2019s somehow a giveaway to Uber rather than a boon for all motorists.<\/p>\n The gov\u2019s also admitting<\/a> (some) reality on the state\u2019s climate law \u2014 namely, that it\u2019s rocketing up costs for New Yorkers and making the state\u2019s power grid unreliable.<\/p>\n Her asks here are (much too) modest: Push back the insane deadlines for cutting emissions, and change the method for calculating \u00a0CO2 output to align with nearly all other states.<\/p>\n Finally, Hochul wants to cut (some) needless environmental-review red tape to spur more housing \u2014 which the state desperately needs.<\/p>\n All good, if small steps, but again: Will she stick to them through tough budget talks?<\/p>\n