{"id":236984,"date":"2026-05-19T17:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/236984\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:54:09","slug":"how-the-new-york-state-budget-works-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/236984\/","title":{"rendered":"How the New York State budget works"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This article was published in partnership with New York Focus.<\/a><\/p>\n

Each spring, Albany lawmakers decide how to spend hundreds of billions in public money in the state\u2019s famously opaque budget process. New York\u2019s budget is bigger than those of most countries, and outpaces that of every other state except California.<\/p>\n

At stake are key questions for New York\u2019s future. Will the state weaken its landmark climate law<\/a>? Will it speed up the process for building new housing<\/a>? Boost pensions<\/a>? How will it deal with the Trump administration\u2019s cuts to health care funding, which threaten to leave hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers without health insurance<\/a>? How will the state fund Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s child care expansion<\/a>?<\/p>\n

With lawmakers having already blown past the official April 1 deadline for passing the budget, the answers to these questions \u2014 and many others \u2014 are coming down to the wire.<\/p>\n

In the coming weeks, we\u2019ll continue to closely cover the secretive process through which the state\u2019s enormous, far-reaching budget<\/a> is made. We\u2019ll be analyzing dueling priorities, providing updates on the progress of negotiations, and explaining what it all means for New Yorkers across the state. First, we wanted to give readers a sense of how the budget process works and why it matters.<\/p>\n

What is the state budget?<\/p>\n

The budget is the state\u2019s plan for how it will spend its money over the next year. It comprises thousands of pages of dense legal language spanning subjects from car insurance to agriculture. This year\u2019s budget will likely allocate over $260 billion, with the biggest shares going to health care and education.<\/p>\n

Despite its name, the budget isn\u2019t limited to financial decisions; it\u2019s also frequently used to enact laws that don\u2019t involve spending money. Last year\u2019s budget<\/a> loosened the rules that require prosecutors to speedily share evidence with defense lawyers, and allowed New York to close several prisons. Hochul\u2019s budget proposal this year would partially roll back a landmark 2019 law<\/a> requiring the state to dramatically reduce carbon emissions and move towards renewable energy in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Where does the money come from?<\/p>\n

Most of the money spent in the budget comes from the taxes that New Yorkers pay to the state government. But a sizable portion is cash that the federal government gives New York to provide services ranging from highways and transit to health insurance for low-income residents.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s proposal this year adds up to $260 billion. The Assembly\u2019s is $266 billion, and the Senate\u2019s is $270 billion. Once the dust settles and the negotiations are done, the final budget will likely fall somewhere between those totals.<\/p>\n

What are the major steps in the budget process?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the basic outline:<\/p>\n

In the first few weeks of the year, the governor issues the \u201cexecutive budget,\u201d a comprehensive proposal for how the state should spend its funds.<\/p>\n

A couple of months later, generally in early to mid-March, each house of the legislature responds with its own proposal, known as the \u201cone-house budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three parties enter into weeks of intense negotiations to resolve the differences. They\u2019re supposed to come to an agreement by April 1, which is the start of the state\u2019s fiscal year, but the process can drag on for days or even weeks past the deadline.<\/p>\n

When the parties reach a deal, the legislature votes to approve the final budget, which goes to the governor to be signed into law. Everyone takes a deep breath and starts getting ready to do it again the next year.<\/p>\n

Although the process is a three-way negotiation, the governor has the upper hand. The executive budget sets the framework for all subsequent discussion, and if legislators try to add additional spending items to the governor\u2019s proposal, the governor can veto each item individually. That doesn\u2019t generally happen, but the threat of a veto can enable the governor to rein in legislators\u2019 desire to spend more.<\/p>\n

When the Senate and Assembly issue their response budget proposals in March \u2014 also known as the \u201cone-house\u201d budgets \u2014 they\u2019re more opening offers for negotiation than actual plans. No one expects that everything in the one-houses will be put into law. But once all three proposals are out, the subjects for debate are clear.<\/p>\n

Who are the key players?<\/p>\n

Three key parties dominate the process: the governor, the Senate majority leader, and the Assembly speaker. (They have historically been called the \u201cthree men in a room\u201d \u2014 though two of them are now women.) Along with their senior advisors and staff, they conduct negotiations behind closed doors. Some key legislators also have significant sway, especially if they chair powerful committees or are longtime members who have built up influence over the years.<\/p>\n

\"State<\/a>State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Photo: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

Most legislators play a limited role. Their main tools to advance their priorities are to pressure legislative leadership and to use public attention. Republicans generally aren\u2019t included in negotiations. Democrats are kept more in the loop: Each house regularly holds \u201cconferences\u201d where legislative leaders and their staff share updates and get feedback from rank-and-file members as they work toward a deal.<\/p>\n

How does our process compare to other states?<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s budget process is notoriously opaque. In a 2015 analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, New York ranked dead last<\/a> among all states for accountability and transparency in its budget process. Not much has changed since then, and good government groups still lament the lack of avenues for citizens to have meaningful input or even follow along.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most glaring example of the lack of transparency is how the legislature actually votes on the budget. The mammoth bills are often introduced just hours before the legislature approves them, offering almost no time for lawmakers \u2014 let alone the public \u2014 to process and react to the final agreements. Voting often doesn\u2019t finish until the middle of the night, when few New Yorkers are watching.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t how things are supposed to work. Under the state constitution, bills must be introduced three days before a vote happens to leave time for public debate and scrutiny. But the governor can lift this requirement by issuing a \u201cmessage of necessity,\u201d allowing the bills to go to a vote immediately. These messages of necessity have become an Albany tradition, to the chagrin of government watchdogs.<\/p>\n

Is the entire budget up for negotiation?<\/p>\n

Although negotiations over the budget get fierce, not everything is up for debate. In fact, most of the negotiations revolve around just a few billion dollars out of the hundreds that the state will spend.<\/p>\n

Significant parts of the budget are more or less on autopilot. State agencies, like the Department of Health or State University of New York, need to be funded every year at roughly the same levels. Medicaid and public education are always the two biggest line items, and don\u2019t generally fluctuate dramatically in cost.<\/p>\n

Neither the governor nor the legislature proposed a budgetary solution for New Yorkers set to be disenrolled<\/a> this summer from the state\u2019s Essential Plan, which offers health insurance to moderate-income people. Other key policy issues, like efforts to prevent law enforcement from collaborating with ICE, were also left out of this year\u2019s budget<\/a>, though funding for immigrant legal services is likely to get a boost.<\/p>\n

Beyond the required categories of spending, many items in the budget are \u201coptional,\u201d and can be slashed as a wide variety of programs compete for limited funds. Animal shelter funding might see a cut one year, or lawmakers might agree to fund a free bus program, among hundreds of options.<\/p>\n

How does the public get involved?<\/p>\n

The budget process is always accompanied by a flurry of lobbying, activism and advocacy. White-shoe lobbyists lean on lawmakers on behalf of major corporations and industry groups. Advocates hold rallies around the state and in Albany; a favorite spot within the state capitol is the \u201cMillion Dollar Staircase,\u201d an enormous and ornate late-19th century structure that got its name from its exorbitant construction cost. The public\u2019s advocacy also frequently includes civil disobedience, with activists often arrested outside the governor\u2019s office or at other key locations.<\/p>\n

Another opening for public input is the legislature\u2019s series of budget hearings. Early each year, the legislature\u2019s committees hold marathon hearings on most major topics covered by the budget, such as taxes, housing and education. Any New Yorker can submit written testimony, and the committees select who will be invited to testify in person.<\/p>\n

For comprehensive coverage of the current budget proposals, please read, and revisit, the New York Focus 2026 budget guide<\/a>, which will be updated when the budget is passed.<\/p>\n

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