Hundreds of school bus drivers traded their daily routes for a spot on a picket line Monday outside of Gov. Cuomo’s Manhattan office.

Union workers, elected officials and advocates called on the governor to give the green light to a bill that would protect retirement and other benefits of bus drivers and matrons, dubbed “Employee Protection Provisions.”

Cuomo vetoed similar legislation in 2016 that would have protected the jobs and benefits regardless of which companies won contracts for busing city kids to school. In doing so, he cited a 2011 decision by the state Court of Appeals that the protection provisions crimped competition and were costly for the city.

After that ruling, the protections were eliminated by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

However, Mayor de Blasio has used a grant program to subsidize drivers, drawing criticism from some lawmakers and good government groups such as the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission.

When Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council signed off on the fiscal 2020 budget last June, they agreed to an increase of about 4.5% for fiscal year 2020, higher than inflation and what many fiscal experts wanted but not so unreasonable.

Since then, however, they have decided to come up with the money to pay parity for pre-K teachers, district attorneys, public defenders and increase the indirect cost allocation for non-profits without specifying the cost.

In all, the budget increase is now approaching 6% and, unfortunately, that would be nothing new. Since fiscal 2017, the city-funded portion of the budget had grown more than 6% each year. That’s why since de Blasio took over, the city budget has increased 26.4% to $92 billion from $72.8 billion. If de Blasio had held the budget to the inflation rate, total spending would be only $78 billion.

The Citizens Budget Commission is raising the alarm about both the increase in the budget and the new way in which the Council and mayor continue to increase spending after a plan is agreed upon. With a downturn possible (the city comptroller noted a marked slowdown in the third quarter), the CBC wants the mayor to step up his so far inadequate program to produce savings within agencies, to halt the rapid expansion of the city’s workforce and devote more money reserves, which total about $6 billion. While $6 billion sounds like a lot of money, it would only cover a revenue decline of about 18 months in a moderate recession.

Montreal businessman Anthony McCord will arrive next month as New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's chief transformation officer to address the authority's myriad operational and capital funding challenges.

The MTA board on Thursday approved the hiring of McCord, who most recently worked at service industry company Veolia as site director of the University of Montreal Health Centre. He has also held leadership positions at Bouygues Energies & Services, Air Liquide Group and Cryolor SA.

The authority's proposed $51.5 billion, five-year capital program awaits action from a state review panel. The amount represents increases of 70% from the 2015-19 plan and 157% from the program for 2005-09.

The 2015-19 plan materialized after several amendments and a compromise among state, city and MTA officials. That caused an estimated $10 billion worth of project delays.

Andrew Rein, president of the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission, said the reliance on bonding and new revenue streams — including congestion pricing for Manhattan — will pressure the operating budget, with future capital plans needing additional new revenues.

A coalition of 20 transit watchdog groups demanded Friday the MTA swiftly appoint the powerful toll board for Manhattan’s new congestion pricing program and require that it comply state transparency laws.

The letter to MTA officials about the Traffic Mobility Review Board comes as another state panel — the Public Campaign Financing Commission — comes under fire for deliberating behind closed doors.

The letter says the TMRB clearly falls under New York’s Open Meetings law.

“In sum, we urge you to immediately appoint the TMRB, and ensure that the body follows the Open Meetings Law. The public interest is best served when the public can understand the reasoning behind government decision-making,” the letter from the coalition said.

The letter was signed by 20 groups including Reinvent Albany, the Regional Plan Association, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC), Citizens Budget Commission, Riders Alliance, NYPRG’s Straphangers Campaign and the TransitCenter.

Andy Byford, New York City’s transit president, has maintained that fares are crucial in improving rider experience. “Every dollar that doesn’t come to us, in terms of fares that should be paid, is a dollar that we can’t improve in service,” he said at a news conference in September, according to AM New York.

Fares aren’t the only source of revenue for the MTA; the system also earns money from tolls, taxes, government subsidies, and advertisements. But fares account for the largest chunk — about 38 percent (or $6.2 billion) — of the MTA’s annual earnings.

The MTA, despite approving a much-needed $54 billion plan in September, is expected to reach a $1 billion operating budget deficit by 2023. The authority board voted to raise fares in April, and the city deployed an additional 500 transit and NYPD police to 50 subway stations and 50 bus routes where evasion is most common. The deployment, according to the Citizens Budget Commission, would cost the city more than $200 million over the next four years.

With voter approval of a city charter amendment to pursue the creation of a budgetary “rainy day fund” in New York City, de Blasio administration officials are now looking to change state laws so that the city can actually start one.

“We’re going to have to work together to make this happen,” said First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan at a breakfast event hosted by the Citizens Budget Commission Wednesday morning, just a few hours after polls closed on Tuesday night.

Voters had overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the city charter that would allow the city to set aside revenue in a savings account meant to cushion the impact of a future economic downturn and city revenue dip — the inevitable rainy day. Until the charter amendment passed this week, provisions in both city and state law required the city to balance its budget every year, meaning savings cannot be carried over from one fiscal year to another. Now, only state law requires a balanced city budget.

While the city continues to enjoy a period of economic prosperity since the 2008-2009 fiscal crisis, economists say it must brace for potential dips, whether slowing growth or recession. In the last two national recessions, the city economy contracted significantly and took years to rebound, according to a Citizens Budget Commission report, “To Weather A Storm: Create a Rainy Day Fund.” According to the CBC analysis, the gross city product (GCP) fell 7.6 percent from 2000 to 2002 and took another three years to reach its pre-recession size; from 2007 to 2009 GCP fell 9 percent and did not reach its previous peak until 2013.

t’s all aboard for the New York City Rainy Day Fund Express. Next stop, Albany.

On Tuesday, voters in the city overwhelmingly approved a proposal to change the City Charter to allow the creation of a formal rainy day account in the city’s budget. The vote was 71.09% to 29.91% with 90.25% of the vote counted.

New York State must now approve any change in the yearly budget process. Strict rules put in place by the state after the 1970s financial crisis prevent the city from setting aside revenues to use in an economic downturn. To put money away, the city uses several methods such as building annual budget reserves, having a surplus roll and reducing deposits to the Retiree Health Benefits Trust fund.

Andrew Rein, President of the Citizens Budget Commission, said on Wednesday that city voters had taken a smart first step in bolstering the city’s financial future.

“With their resounding approval in favor of changing the charter to allow a rainy day fund, New Yorkers seized an historic opportunity to improve one of the few weaknesses in the city’s financial management framework,” Rein said. “Importantly they have also sent a signal to Albany that will provide momentum to make the needed changes and improvements in state law.”

Speaking to the CBC Board of Trustees on Wednesday, First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan said while a rainy day fund would benefit the city, the de Blasio Administration had already built up reserves to record levels.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday said New York’s Medicaid shortfall “is going to be a major financial issue for the state” in the upcoming budget cycle, partly blaming a drop in federal assistance.

The governor’s comments came shortly after the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan organization focused on New York’s finances and services, raised questions about the Cuomo administration’s plans to address the state’s Medicaid shortfall.

CBC President Andrew Rein and David Friedfel, the group’s director of state studies, wrote in a Tuesday blog post that while the state’s October Annual Information Statement Update outlined plans to address the Medicaid gap were “welcome, it is not sufficiently specific.”

When the mid-year update due on Oct. 30 is released, they added, CBC “will evaluate whether the financial plan reflects true costs for the Medicaid program and whether it introduces a sufficiently detailed plan for reducing Medicaid or other expenditures.”

There is no recession in sight and the New York State budget is already in the red. Just think what will happen when the economy does falter. And it’s all Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s fault. Let’s see how he fixes it, if he does.

Here’s the story in a nutshell. With the state’s fiscal year nearing an end in the early spring, Medicaid spending was about $2 billion over budget. Rather than deal with it, Cuomo delayed paying health care providers until the start of the new fiscal year in April. This kept the budget in balance for last year. This is called ``kicking the can down the road.’’

Now, Medicaid spending in the current fiscal year is on track to exceed the target by $3 billion to $4 billion and as a direct result the state budget is showing a projected budget deficit that will need to be dealt with. The governor says he’s going to delay Medicaid payments again (kicking the can down the road again) and he is looking at cuts as well to end the year without a shortfall. In all, the Citizens Budget Commission said this week, state Medicaid spending over the next four years will cost $13 billion more than projected.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's second-in-command wants to see the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's math before the city hands over its cash.

First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan voiced skepticism Wednesday about the the $51.5 billion five-year capital plan the MTA's board approved in September.

A number of board members—including de Blasio appointee Veronica Vanterpool—complained of a lack of transparency, inadequate review time and incomplete information in the biggest modernization and construction program in the authority's history.

Fuleihan echoed those concerns during an appearance at the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog group.

"We don't have detail that we would normally have in an MTA capital plan. We're still waiting for that," said Fuleihan, the former director of the city Office of Management and Budget.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday called ballooning Medicaid spending a “major problem” in New York.

Cuomo told reporters that his administration is considering spending cuts or further budgetary maneuvers to address a $3 billion or $4 billion shortfall for the state fiscal year ending March 31.

Cuomo’s administration has said it changed the timing of Medicaid payments — ranging from $50 to $435 million — in past years to comply with the state’s cap on such spending.

Fiscal groups such as the Citizens Budget Commission have said the state has often changed what falls under the spending cap, and has failed to moved swiftly and transparently enough to address the shortfall. Such observers note state budget officials have again missed a deadline to release a financial plan that could propose solutions.

“Continued failure to address the underlying cost growth or identify other state savings represents a major challenge and risk to state finances,” a spokesperson for the Citizens Budget Commission said in a statement.

Expanding the police force will likely add to the transit agency’s financial challenges.

The annual cost for one new officer is nearly $93,000 in the first year, including overtime, health benefits and pension costs, according to a report by the Citizens Budget Commission. Hiring 500 officers and 81 supervisors will cost $56 million in the first year and grow to nearly $120 million per year in a decade.

At the same time, the subway is struggling to rebound. The on-time rate for trains recently rose above 80 percent for the first time in years, from 65 percent in 2017. But there were still more than 35,000 train delays in September, including a train that broke down in Brooklyn in a smoke-filled tunnel.

Transit officials are also negotiating a new union contract with Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents more than 38,000 subway and bus workers. The negotiations have turned nasty, and workers recently held a large rally outside M.T.A. headquarters.