Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) revealed a massive $252 billion budget for New York, much to the chagrin of state Republicans who say the state is spending too much.
Hochul revealed her 2026 budget for the state on Tuesday afternoon, showing an $8.6 billion increase in spending — a 3.6% raise from 2025.
A chunk of the new spending is directed toward affordability measures such as $3 billion in inflation rebate checks, tax cuts, and an expanded child tax credit.
“These clowns have already increased state spending by over $61B in 4 years with no end in sight,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who is a rumored 2026 gubernatorial contender, wrote on X. “The state is hemorrhaging people and businesses and their response is to increase taxes and spending.”
New York state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, a Republican, piled on.
“The only thing bold about the Governor’s budget plan is the amount of new spending,” he said in a post on X. “Once again, we are on track to spend more and pass those costs on to hard-working New Yorkers. There is nothing in the budget to address affordability in the long term.”
Hochul justified the new spending by saying that government costs are up.
“State government is more expensive,” Hochul said. “Our costs are up. We put the fuel in the snow plows the DOT uses and the salt barns and our construction projects — everything we touch has gone up.”
The governor took time to knock Lawler and the New York GOP congressional delegation during her budget address, noting they are responsible if spending cuts for vital government programs such as Medicaid are enacted.
She also pressured them to eliminate the $10,000 SALT cap, which Lawler and other New York Republicans have been seeking to do. “Full repeal or no deal,” she said.
Lawler said earlier Wednesday that he would not support a tax bill “that does not lift the cap on SALT.”
The budget also includes a subway safety plan for New York City in which police officers would be present on trains from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. After it was previously reported that the state would fully pay for the plan, Hochul later said New York would only cover half and the city would get the rest.
“I wasn’t negotiating any details of this,” the governor said. “I said I want police on the subways — figure it out.”
Other critics of the budget also slam its spending. Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, told Politico that the budget has grown $100 billion over the last 10 years.
“Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Executive Budget weakens the State’s fiscal foundation and competitiveness: it balloons spending, fails to restrain unaffordable Medicaid and education spending growth, spreads many ‘affordability’ programs too thin to provide meaningful relief, and extends the ‘temporary’ income tax surcharge,” he said.
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Other highlights of the spending plan include an initiative to ban students from using cellphones in school and universal free school meals.
The plan didn’t include a proposal to fill New York City’s transit funding gap of $33 billion.
