Photo: LEONARDO MUNOZ / AFP / Getty Images
Hudson Valley State Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha is leading a push to limit the governor’s powers during the ongoing New York state budget negotiations, as the budget remains more than two weeks overdue. On Wednesday (April 15), Shrestha and several fellow Democrats held a press conference in Kingston, New York, calling for a constitutional amendment that would reduce what they describe as “executive overreach” in the annual budget process. According to a report from the Daily Freeman, Shrestha argued that, “governors have outsized power in the budget process and are able to hold up budgets for their own policy priorities, leaving little time for non-budget legislation.”
Under current rules, the governor’s executive budget proposal sets the framework for all spending and many policy decisions for the year. The governor can veto individual spending items added by legislators, giving the executive branch a strong negotiating advantage. As New York Focus explains, this has made New York’s budget process one of the least transparent in the country, with major bills sometimes introduced just hours before late-night votes.
This year, disagreements between Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders have led to repeated missed deadlines. The original April 1 deadline has now been pushed back with four temporary budget extenders, with a fifth expected to pass today to keep state services running. As Spectrum News 1 reports, key sticking points include proposed changes to car insurance laws, reforms to the 2019 climate law, school aid, and taxes on the wealthy.
Shrestha said the current process leaves New Yorkers uncertain about important issues, stating, “The people we represent are worried about basic things like whether they’ll lose their health insurance, afford their utility bills, or have a viable environment to raise families in.” She and other Democrats say a constitutional amendment is needed to ensure more balanced decision-making and greater legislative involvement.
However, some Republicans, including Assemblyman Briann Maher, have dismissed the effort as unlikely to succeed, arguing that “the governor is never going to support limiting her own negotiating power and legislative members will cry uncle before long, since they do not receive a paycheck until the budget is finalized,” according to the Daily Freeman.
With no final budget agreement in sight, lawmakers are expected to continue debating both the process and the substance of New York’s spending plan in the weeks ahead. Any move to limit the governor’s powers would require passage by two consecutive legislatures and approval by voters in a statewide ballot initiative.