We break down the top-line spending figures from Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget, consider how her fiscal approach compares to her predecessor and discuss future budget gaps with Patrick Orecki, director of state studies for the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed fiscal watchdog.

The top 1% of, of income tax payers pay about 20% of total state funds spending just from the personal income tax liability alone. So we do have a, a very kind of top heavy, very progressive income tax structure.

The tab for Hochul’s plan would be higher still if she weren’t looking to pass off a larger share of Medicaid’s costs to local governments. That’s “a step backwards,” as the Citizens Budget Commission notes, after the state some years back froze that share, forcing Albany to use its own money for the higher Medicaid spending it mandates.

"Given the long nature of leases, the current market values don't yet reflect most of the market activity that's been happening of late," said Sean Campion, director of housing and economic development studies at the Citizens Budget Commission. "It's going to take years for rising vacancy rates to get reflected in valuations."

NY Governor Kathy Hochul released her plan for the state budget, one of the most important items negotiated each year. Join us as Patrick Orecki from the Citizen's Budget Commission breaks down the numbers.

The budget watchers at the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission commended keeping reserve levels high, but were wary about any future tax hikes or service cuts without implementing any cost savings in recurring state programs.

Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal policy watchdog, commended many of the recommendations while acknowledging the road ahead to turn the recommendations into concrete policy. The group cautioned that any reforms must be designed to work together in concert.

“One of the first things that jumped off the page and has big implications for the budget is the expectation of a mild, short recession in the first half of 2023,” Patrick Orecki, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, told Capital Tonight. “But the budget does plan for it.”

“The city, like the state, has money in its pocket now but has fiscal and economic headwinds in front of it,” said Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission. “We need to remember that it’s a regional economy and it’s a regional system. The city is not the only one served by the MTA.”

Patrick Orecki with the watchdog group Citizens Budget Commission said New York can no longer rely on additional money it received from pandemic-related relief programs. He said while the state’s books are balanced right now, New York faces a “fiscal cliff” of larger deficits in a few years if spending patterns don’t change, and he urged the governor and lawmakers to plan for that.

“Solving a budget problems in a way that drives business out of the state is not a good solution,” said Andrew Rein, the president of the commission, a watchdog that pushes for fiscal restraint and opposes extending the corporate tax surcharge.

“State coffers are bulging, but the risks are real,” said Andrew Rein, CBC president. The group is urging lawmakers to resist the “catnip” of a short-term spending boost that could create huge future obligations.