Keep budget balanced
Executive budget proposals — even in a state like New York with a strong governor — are wish lists, subject to negotiations with the Legislature. Which is as it should be: give and take among the elected representatives of the people.
But if there is one thing Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed that should stay intact, it’s her rather surprising achievement, on paper at least, of a balanced budget, not just now but years into the future.
That kind of long-range financial stability is no small thing. It’s a signal to residents and businesses — those here and those thinking about moving here — that some tax hike isn’t lurking in the multi-billion-dollar can that governors and legislatures often kick down the road.
We mention this because balanced budgets have a way of getting unbalanced awfully fast once politicians get their hands on them — regardless of their political party or ideology or professed fiscal conservatism. Democratic President Bill Clinton, remember, left office in 2001 with — if you
can imagine this — a surplus. His vice president and the Democratic presidential nominee, Al Gore, wanted to use surplus funds to pay down the national debt. But Republican George W. Bush went for populist appeal and promised tax cuts. Mr. Bush won, and promptly started the country on a path of never-ending deficits under Democrats and Republicans alike.
The difference for the state, of course, is that it can’t print money. So, short of borrowing — which has its proper place for emergencies and capital investments — the state must live within its means. Ms. Hochul, in her first budget, seeks to do just that.
That’s not so say this is an austere spending plan. Thanks in part to an infusion of federal aid, and in part to taking a fresh look at priorities, Ms. Hochul’s $216 billion budget offers some substantial investments — a long-sought, $1.6 billion increase in school Foundation Aid; $100 million more for addiction services; a $10 billion plan to help rejuvenate the depleted health care and human services workforce; and $25 billion to create and preserve 100,000 units of affordable housing and 10,000 units of supportive housing for people with special needs. There’s an accelerated middle-class tax cut and more spending on environmental protection and initiatives.
With an election coming up this fall, legislators will no doubt want to tweak the plan to get more of their pet projects and big ideas into it, and if Ms. Hochul is like most chief executives, she has likely left ample change under the couch cushions to accommodate at least some of them. Republican gubernatorial and legislative challengers this fall may well call for even bigger tax cuts — as Republicans in the Legislature are already suggesting. The pressure will be on.
If we urge one guiding principle in budget talks, it’s prudence. Ms. Hochul has proposed not just a pretty good budget, but a sustainable one. That’s new. It’s encouraging. It would be a shame to squander it for the sake of political points.