New York’s cumulative budget deficit has increased by $34 billion, or 25%, over the last three years, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a report Friday.
The estimated budget gap represents the state’s largest since the financial crisis in 2009. The state’s deficit is due in part to increased spending for Medicaid and education at the same time that the Trump administration has made billions in cuts to safety net programs and solidified in congressional Republicans’ spending bill.
“This is likely just the beginning; the relationship between the federal government and the states is being restructured, and state governments will be facing drastic reductions in federal aid that could force difficult decisions about state revenue and spending priorities,” DiNapoli said. “There is an urgent need to formulate a fiscal response to the federal reconciliation bill and support New York’s safety net.”…