Give us money info
Watchdogs want state COVID plan details
ALBANY — Fiscal watchdogs and advocates in New York want more information about the state’s withholding of funds from agencies, local governments and vendors.
A coalition of 20 good-government groups are calling on the state budget division to release detailed, monthly information about money that has been held back during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The state is currently in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 and has not released a plan to implement any spending reductions. Instead, payments have been withheld and little information has been publicly released,” the groups wrote in a letter to Robert Mujica, Gov. Cuomo’s budget czar.
Reinvent Albany, the Citizens Budget Commission and others took umbrage with information provided by the state in its midyear financial plan update, including a table that showed $2.4 billion in withholdings through September. The withheld payments were arranged in 10 categories and not broken down by agency or individual program.
“The lack of details makes it difficult to assess how State actions are impacting agencies, local entities, and nonprofits,” the groups argue.
New York is facing dire straits due to the COVID-19 crisis. The state’s budget deficit is at least $8 billion, according to officials, though Cuomo has repeatedly warned the gap could be closer to $15 billion.
The coalition of advocates, which includes Citizens Union of the City of New York, Common Cause New York and the Fiscal Policy Institute, also asked for information about the $1.5 billion in advanced payments announced by Cuomo last week.
“Without information about the withholdings and advanced payments, the public and Legislature do not know if reductions in state aid have been fair and appropriate,” they wrote.
The state budget, passed in April at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in the state, granted the governor sweeping spending authority and allowed officials to make spending changes throughout the year. Under the agreement, the governor’s office agreed to get approval from the legislature before making any cuts. Instead, the state has chosen to withhold funds and hold out hope for federal relief.
State Budget Department spokesman Freeman Klopott said what and how much funding is being withheld changes from day to day as officials work with agencies and entities to balance the books.
“The temporary withholdings are solely designed to maintain a balanced budget amid the ongoing absence of promised federal funding to offset the state’s devastating revenue losses,” he said. “The state is in constant contact with the entities that have experienced temporary withholdings, and updates the Legislature on a regular basis on the status of the state’s finances in addition to the details provided in our quarterly financial plan updates.”
A full breakdown of the withholdings and potentially permanent reductions will be made available in the governor’s budget proposal, which will be released in late January, Klopott added.