Public Does Not Currently Know How Much State Funding is Being Withheld From Individual Agencies Such as MTA, or By Program

Twenty watchdog groups today asked the NYS Division of the Budget (DOB) to release detailed, monthly information about the State’s withholding of funds from agencies, local governments, and state vendors. As part of the COVID emergency provisions in this year’s FY 2021 state budget, the Legislature authorized the Governor to withhold funding appropriated in the Aid to Localities section of the budget as part of the “state budget adjustment” process.

New York State is currently in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021 and has not formally announced any budget cuts. Instead, billions of payments from the state have been “withheld” from CUNY, local governments and social service providers. The exact amounts DOB has withheld from local governments, state vendors and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) remain unknown to the public.

The groups also asked for information about the $1.5 billion in advanced payments announced by Governor Cuomo last week. Without information about the withholdings and advanced payments, the public and Legislature do not know if reductions in state aid have been fair and appropriate.