NY Special-Interest Feeding Frenzy

State lawmakers are racing to cram as much cash for their allies into next year’s budget as they can by Wednesday’s deadline — without a care in the world for the needs of everyday New Yorkers.

Legislative leaders are now finalizing a deal that could boost the bottom line to as much as a jaw-dropping $208 billion. That includes billions in federal handouts but would mark a full 20 percent jump from last year’s (already bloated) $173 billion tab — including a 22.6 percent surge in statefunded spending from this year alone.

As much as $5.7 billion more would go to schools (read: Democrats’ teachers’-union allies), though New York already leads the nation in per-student spending. It leads in per-capita Medicaid spending, too, yet billions more would go to that program.

To fund their schemes, lawmakers look to squeeze as much as $7 billion in new taxes from the “rich,” making New York’s stateand local-tax burden the highest in the land.

Many of these taxpayers will flee rather than hand over their cash. Worse, as execs at 250 major businesses warned last week, employers will jump ship, too, wreaking havoc on New York’s economic recovery.

Albany has also ignored the needs of desperate tenants behind on their rent and the landlords they owe, struggling to pay their own bills. For weeks, lawmakers have sat on $1.3 billion in federal rental aid that could offer relief and free up building owners to make needed repairs, which also can help the economy. Other states are already getting the cash where its needed; New York lawmakers haven’t even settled on a procedure.

It’s pretty clear where Albany’s priorities lie: with its special-interest pals. Pretty shameful, too