EEvery family knows two things about a credit card. Having one is useful. When the roof goes or the car dies, being able to borrow is the difference between a problem and a disaster. But the card only works if you don’t max it out. Once you’re carrying a balance you can’t pay down, it stops being a cushion and turns into a trap.
New York State has a credit card too. We call it debt, and used carefully it’s a perfectly good way to build the roads, bridges, schools, and water systems a state our size depends on. I’m not against borrowing. I’m against what Albany has done with the card. Quietly, year after year, without telling you, and now dangerously close to the limit.
Here are the numbers, taken from New York’s own financial reports.
When Tom DiNapoli became State Comptroller in 2007, New York’s state-supported debt stood at roughly $51 billion. Today it has grown to approximately $75 billion to $76 billion, and the state’s own projections show it approaching $98 billion by 2031.
That is not a rounding error. It is nearly a doubling of the debt burden on New Yorkers during the tenure of the very official whose job is to safeguard the state’s finances.
Now comes the part most New Yorkers have never been told.
Our Constitution generally requires voter approval when the state incurs long-term debt backed by taxpayers. The purpose is simple: if taxpayers are going to be responsible for repayment, taxpayers should have a voice before the money is borrowed.
So Albany found a workaround. Instead of asking voters directly, state leaders increasingly rely on public authorities such as the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), the Thruway Authority, and others to issue bonds. The state then commits tax revenues to repay those obligations. The result is that most state-supported debt is issued through public authorities rather than directly approved by voters.
No referendum. No statewide vote. No meaningful taxpayer consent.
If that sounds abstract, consider a recent example. In March 2026, DASNY issued approximately $2.1 billion in bonds for projects and refinancing. Most New Yorkers never heard about it. Yet taxpayers remain responsible for the payments long after the politicians who approved the borrowing have left office.
And DASNY is only one authority. It remains one of the largest public debt issuers in the nation, with tens of billions of dollars of bonds outstanding.
The Comptroller’s office itself has long referred to this practice as “backdoor borrowing.” The problem is that warning about it isn’t the same as stopping it.
For years, reports have documented the growth of authority-issued debt. Yet the borrowing continued. Debt climbed from $51 billion to roughly $76 billion and is projected to reach nearly $98 billion. At some point, a watchdog has to do more than issue reports. A watchdog has to protect taxpayers.
The cost of carrying this balance is becoming staggering.
When DiNapoli took office, New York spent approximately $4.6 billion per year on debt service, the principal and interest paid on borrowed money. Today that number is approaching $8 billion annually, before a single dollar reaches a classroom, a hospital, a road, or public safety.
By 2030, debt-service costs are projected to approach $10 billion per year. Think about that. Nearly $10 billion every year simply to service past borrowing.
That money cannot be used to lower taxes. It cannot be used to improve public services. It cannot be used to strengthen New York’s future. It goes out the door to pay yesterday’s bills.
Governor Hochul and legislative leaders will tell you the state’s finances are sound. But their own projections show state-supported debt approaching $98 billion by 2031, while debt-service costs continue climbing.
New York is projected to be approaching its constitutional debt limit at the same time.
When families reach the limit on a credit card, they have to make hard decisions. Albany has another option. It can simply change the rules.
The debt limit isn’t imposed by a bank. It is established by government. And history shows that when government reaches a constraint it doesn’t like, the temptation is always to move the constraint instead of solving the problem.
That is how a teenager behaves with a credit card handed to them for emergencies. They run up the balance, hide the statements, and then ask for a higher limit.
It is a betrayal of trust. And it leads to the one question Albany doesn’t want you asking: Who pays the bill? You do. Every taxpayer does.
The Comptroller is supposed to be the one statewide official whose job is to stand between politicians and your wallet. To count honestly. To warn loudly. And most importantly, to act.
That is why I am running for Comptroller.
The first step is simple: tell New Yorkers the truth about what they owe. Bring transparency to the state’s borrowing practices. Restore accountability. And stop treating taxpayers like an unlimited credit line.
Albany has had the card long enough.
It’s time to take it back.