ALBANY, NY — Joseph Hernandez, Republican candidate for New York State Comptroller, today demanded full transparency from Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders after the state’s official Financial Plan revealed that FY2027 spending will reach a record $277 billion. Which is roughly $9 billion more than the $268 billion figure Hochul announced when she declared a budget “general agreement” this spring.
The true total was kept from the public until the Division of the Budget published the enacted Financial Plan which was released only after the budget bills had been printed, voted on, and signed into law. This happened long past the point when New Yorkers could weigh in. The same document reports nearly $94 billion in total outstanding state debt.
“New Yorkers were sold one number in front of the cameras and handed a different, bigger number after the ink was dry,” said Hernandez. “Nine billion dollars is not a rounding error. It’s larger than the entire annual budget of some states. “When the people you trust to count the money can’t give you a straight figure on the way in, you need a Comptroller willing to demand one, not just a rubber stamp for Albany.”
The record is straightforward. At her budget announcement, Hochul described next year’s budget as a $268 billion plan. The roughly $9 billion gap was disclosed only after the budget was finalized, in a Financial Plan released weeks later, leaving the public and the press no opportunity to scrutinize the real numbers before they became law.
The administration has defended the higher figure by arguing that the increase reflects additional federal funding that recently became eligible to be spent, and that State Operating Funds, the portion supported primarily by state taxpayers,remains largely unchanged from earlier projections.
“That explanation actually proves the point,” Hernandez said. “If the administration knew billions more were coming, that number belonged in the figure they gave the public, not in a footnote released after”
“And it tells you everything about Albany that when new money shows up, the budget simply grows. It’s never used to ease the burden on taxpayers,” explained Hernandez. “Whether the dollars come from Albany or Washington, it is still $277 billion in spending New York is now on the hook to administer, with nearly $94 billion in debt behind it.”
Hernandez, argued that the disclosure gap is a direct test of the office he is seeking. The State Comptroller is supposed to audit spending, manage the state pension fund, and review state contracts. For 19 years, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has stood by while Albany’s budgets have grown larger, later, and less transparent, without any meaningful action from the one official elected to follow the money.
Hernandez called on the Division of the Budget to commit to releasing future Financial Plans concurrently with the announcement of any budget agreement, so that the public and the press can evaluate the full cost of a deal before it becomes law.
“I’m running to be an independent check, not a cheerleader,” Hernandez said. “Every New Yorker who pays a utility bill, a property tax bill, or a grocery bill deserves a Comptroller who will give them the real number and ensure effective spending. When I’m elected, the silence from the Comptroller’s office ends.”