Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his Republican rival, Marc Molinaro, argued about the condition of New York state’s finances during their only one-on-one debate of the campaign. Molinaro pushed back against Cuomo’s claim that he has increased spending by only 2 percent per year, lower than it has been in modern political history.

The independent Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization, analyzes state budgets and found that the 2018-19 budget, which began April 1, calls for increased spending of 4.5 percent. The commission found that, despite state leaders’ proclamations that spending growth had stayed at 2 percent, "after adjusting for shifts of certain types of spending out of state operating funds or across fiscal years, the budget actually increases 4.5 percent from fiscal year 2018."