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"Message from the Comptroller"

"Ideally,a governmental budget is created with full public transparency. But nine of the ten bills that make up this year’s Budget were passed by the Legislature soon after final amendments were added and bills were printed, using gubernatorial “messages of necessity” that bypass the three-day waiting period normally required by the State Constitution. The Legislature’s budget conference committee process was incomplete again this year. In many ways, transparency was sorely lacking.
"A budget should provide full and clear information about how the public’s dollars will be allocated and used, and an explanation of the benefits that are expected to result. The Enacted Budget could have done more to meet these goals...."

"Executive Summary", at p. 2

"The Budget includes a number of provisions that raise concerns regarding transparency, accountability and oversight. Bills addressing major areas of public interest were passed with only minimal information on their content disclosed. The rushed passage of these important bills denied the public the opportunity to gain a full understanding of the contents and the financial, programmatic and other impacts such agreements could have before their enactment. While fiscal estimates for certain changes from the Executive Budget were made public, the Budget was adopted with minimal disclosure as to its overall fiscal impact. The Legislature’s Joint Budget Conference Committee process was started, and the Legislature reported that $277 million was to be allocated by subcommittees for various programmatic areas, but no information as to specific outcomes of the conference committee process was made available."

"Transparency and Accountability", at p. 44

        "The Enacted Budget included several proposals from the Executive Budget, as well as additional provisions added as a result of budget negotiations, that reduce government transparency, accountability, and oversight. Also, while the Budget was essentially timely, with final legislative action on appropriation bills occurring on April 1, transparency with respect to both process and content was sacrificed. The following summary provides an overview of these areas of concern.

Opaque budget process
        The Legislature’s Joint Budget Conference subcommittee process was designed in part to provide public disclosure of budget negotiations. The Legislature reported that $277 million was to be allocated by the substantive subcommittees for various programmatic areas. There were public meetings where changes to the Budget were discussed, but final conclusions were not reached publicly, and final subcommittee reports were not released. In the end, the Director of the Budget reported that the Legislature had provided additions and restorations totaling approximately $1.4 billion.
        All major budget bills, with the exception of the debt service budget bill, were passed under messages of necessity and without time for appropriate review. The rushed passage of these important bills denied the public – and may have denied some legislators – the opportunity to get a full understanding of the agreements being reached and the financial, programmatic, and other impacts such agreements could have before their enactment."

Comptroller DiNapoli's April 1, 2015 "Report on the State Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Enacted Budget"

at p. 2

"The Enacted Budget’s extensive use of lump-sum appropriations for Executive and Legislative initiatives raises questions of accountability and transparency. In most cases, these programs contain only minimal criteria for awards and few, if any, requirements for public reporting on the programs’ operations.... The 2007 Budget Reform Act was enacted, in part, to prohibit the use of Legislative lump-sum appropriations. These new authorizations appear inconsistent with the spirit of such reforms."

at pp. 10-11 Transparency and Accountability

"High standards of transparency, accountability and oversight are critical to ensuring that taxpayer dollars are protected from waste and abuse, and public access to information is not diminished. When budgetary actions do not meet such standards, public resources are left vulnerable to misuse and inefficiency, and important discussion and debate may be shortcircuited. The SFY 2015-16 Enacted Budget omits several proposals from the Executive Budget that would have reduced government transparency and accountability. The Enacted Budget was timely, with final legislative action on appropriation bills missing the March 31 deadline by only hours. Still, transparency with respect to both process and content was sacrificed. The Joint Budget Conference subcommittee process, designed in part to provide public disclosure of budget negotiations, did not issue final reports of the results of subcommittee decisions. The initial meetings of the subcommittees indicated that $610 million was to be allocated by the substantive subcommittees for various programmatic areas. There were public meetings where various changes to the budget were discussed, but final conclusions were not reached. At that point, public meetings stopped and final reports were never delivered.

Several of the budget bills were printed before the conclusion of the budget negotiations, and lacked important provisions. For example, one of the largest areas of local spending, education and school aid, was removed from the Aid to Localities Budget Bill which the Legislature passed. The Aid to Localities Budget Bill was later amended in the final bills that were passed in each House within hours of being completed and made available to members of the Legislature and the public. The Capital Projects Budget Bill, which includes the allocation of billions of dollars in new spending from settlement funds, was also passed without the normal three-day aging period. Such bills were passed with messages of necessity.

As a result of the compressed schedule for Legislative action, bills addressing major areas of public interest, including changes to education and ethics requirements, were passed with only minimal information with respect to their content being disclosed. The rushed passage of these important bills denied the public the opportunity to get a full understanding of the agreements being reached and the impacts such agreements could have before their enactment.

The Enacted Budget includes various provisions that raise concerns regarding oversight, transparency and accountability. Several of these provisions were included in the Executive Budget proposal and in some cases modified in the Enacted Budget. ...

Comptroller DiNapoli's April 15, 2014 "Preliminary Report on the State Fiscal Year 2014-2015 Enacted Budget"

March 6, 2017: "Cuomo Contradicts Bharara on Prosecutors and Government Oversight",
Gotham Gazette (Rachel Silberstein)

June 22, 2017 "Lack of reforms at NY capitol called 'pathetic'", (Democrat & Chronicle (Joseph Spector)

comptroller opinions on conflicts of interest -- 2012-1 2009-1 2008-2 2008-1

Comptroller DiNapoli's Legislative Program

S3984 A6355

bill bill

"good gov't" groups -- "Clock Ticking on Unfinished Business -- 2017

A.8175 (june 1, 2017)
S.6613-a (June 7, 2017)

click here for:
CJA's Citizen-Taxpayer Actions to End NYS' Corrupt Budget "Process"
& Unconstitutional "Three Men in a Room" Governance