Hochul blames Trump's ‘Big Beautiful' bill for money woes weeks after NYS OK'd massive spending hike
Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget chief Blake Washington told reporters Thursday that his office's initial estimates show the Empire State is expected to take a $750 million hit during the current fiscal year and a $3 billion hit next fiscal year, mostly due to the feds' changes to Medicaid.
'There's no way the state of New York can finance what has been foisted upon us, no way any state can do that, frankly,' Washington said.
Advertisement
3 Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget chief, Blake Washington, told reporters Thursday that his office's initial estimates show the Empire State is expected to take $750 million hit during the current fiscal year and a $3 billion hit next fiscal year.
Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com
Washington left it open-ended whether state lawmakers would return to Albany later this year to amend the state budget, which passed in May.
State spending has shot up nearly $45 billion, or 21%, over her predecessor Andrew Cuomo's final budget, in 2021.
Advertisement
New spending in this year's budget deal pushed projected deficits up from $27.3 billion to $34.3 billion for the combined 2027-29 fiscal years.
Dems also tapped into its budget reserves to pay off around $7 billion to pay off a long standing unemployment insurance debt to the feds.
New spending included widely-panned handouts such as $2 billion used to send out $150-$400 checks to New Yorkers making under $150,000 and families making under $300,000.
3 Washington didn't say if lawmakers across the state would return to Albany later this year to make changes to the budget, which passed in May.
Vaughn Golden for New York Post
Advertisement
Hochul's budget chief wouldn't say if the checks were still a good idea at the same time the state government is now projecting a $3 billion hit.
'We're trying to balance the needs of New Yorkers, wherever they may be and this is one policy prescription that we think provides modest relief for families throughout the state,' Washington said.
It's 'not credible' to claim the state can't come up with $3 billion in revenue to fill the projected gap, said Bill Hammond, senior fellow for health policy at the think-tank the Empire Center for Public Policy.
'As a factual matter it's definitely within the reach of the state of New York to come up with $3 billion just by finding efficiency savings within Medicaid itself.' Hammond told The Post.
Advertisement
3 The current deficit plans to jump up from $27.3 billion to $34.3 billion for the combined 2027-29 fiscal years.
Getty Images
New York spends more per capita – $4,724 – than any other state in the nation on Medicaid, 46% above the national average, according to the state's most recent financial plan.
Republicans blasted Hochul for claiming the federal government is cutting Medicaid, with a spokesperson for potential GOP gubernatorial candidate and US Rep. Elise Stefanik saying the Trump bill 'actually increases Medicaid by eliminating billions in waste, fraud and abuse.'
'Far Left NY Democrats like Kathy Hochul continue to fearmonger because they know that President Trump and Elise Stefanik are delivering results for the American people,' the spokesperson said in a statement.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), another potential challenger to Hochul when she's up for re-election next year said Hochul was 'complaining that the federal government is finally imposing some accountability to protect taxpayers and ensure our most vulnerable have access to the health care they need.'
'It's no surprise that she's the most unpopular governor in America and New Yorkers want someone new running the state,' he said in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Democrats facing crisis as more than 2M voters leave party in four years: analysis
The Democratic Party is bleeding registered voters, suffering a 4.5 million swing against it that could take years to recover from, according to a new report. Between the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, Democrats lost about 2.1 million voters across the 30 states that track registration by political party, according to a New York Times analysis of data gathered by the L2 tracking firm. Over the same period, the Republican Party gained 2.4 million registered voters. Officially, there are still more registered Democrats than Republicans nationwide, but that number is incomplete because blue states like California and New York allow voters to register by party — as does the District of Columbia — while reliably red states like Texas, Missouri and Ohio do not. Most alarmingly for Democrats, the decline is nationwide, with the US seeing more new voters registering with the GOP in 2024 for the first time in six years. Democrats also saw their registered voter advantage dwindle in four 2024 battleground states — Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — all of which President Trump carried this past Nov. 5. Democrats lost about 2.1 million registered voters in the 30 states that track registration by political party. AP Michael Pruser, who tracks voter registration closely as the director of data science for Decision Desk HQ, warned that the numbers not only help explain Trump's victory last year — in which he became the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote in 20 years — but also forecast significant headwinds for Democrats in next year's midterm elections as well as the 2028 presidential vote. 'I don't want to say, 'The death cycle of the Democratic Party,'' Pruser told the Times, 'but there seems to be no end to this.' 'There is no silver lining or cavalry coming across the hill. This is month after month, year after year,' he added. In North Carolina, Democrats lost 115,523 voters between the 2020 and 2024 election, with Republicans gaining more than 140,000 members and erasing the Dems' registration advantage, according to the L2 data. More new voters registered to be Republican than Democrat last year, the first time since 2018. Michael Nagle Democrats suffered similar losses in Arizona and Pennsylvania, while in Nevada — a state whose politics were long dominated by the Las Vegas-based Culinary Workers Union — the share of registered Democrats suffered the second-steepest plunge of those states measured between 2020 and 2024. (Only deep-red West Virginia saw more precipitous losses.). Even Democratic bastions like New York and California were not safe from voter erosion, with Dems losing 305,922 registered voters in the Empire State in between the two elections. In California, Democrats lost 680,556 voters between 2020 and 2024. All in all, Democrats went from enjoying an advantage of nearly 11 percentage points over Republicans in registered voter numbers in 2020 to just over six percentage points across the 30 states and DC in 2024, the Times found. Experts believe that the fall of new Democratic registrations can be linked to the growing number of voters choosing to be independents or unaffiliated, a trend that is sapping both parties' rolls. In 2018, more than one-third (34%) of new voter registrations nationwide were Democrats, while registered Republicans made up just 20% of new voters. As of last year, however, Republicans had erased that gap, with party supporters making up 29% of new voters, while Democrats made up 26% of new voters.
Newsweek
17 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Gavin Newsom's Redistricting Ballot Measure Chances of Passing—New Poll
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. California Governor Gavin Newsom's redistricting ballot measure has support from a majority of the state's voters, according to a new poll. Newsweek reached out to Newsom and the California GOP for comment via email. Why It Matters The redistricting arms race between California, Texas and other states could have key implications for the midterms. Texas, with the support of President Donald Trump, first announced plans to redraw its map to become more favorable to Republicans and thwart losses in the midterms, but Newsom has warned California could redraw its map to benefit Democrats in return. California Democrats' ability to do so may hinge on the outcome of a ballot measure Newsom announced last week that would allow a new map drafted by legislators to temporarily replace the boundaries drawn up by the state's independent redistricting committee following the 2020 census. If the ballot measure is successful, it could neutralize efforts from Texas Republicans. But if it fails, Republicans may be able to net several seats in not only Texas, but also other GOP states like Indiana and Missouri. What to Know A new poll from Newsom's pollster, reported by Axios, suggests a majority of voters are prepared to support the ballot measure. The poll, conducted by David Binder, showed that 57 percent of California voters are in support of the proposal. Only 35 percent were opposed to it, while 8 percent remained undecided. Among Democrats, the ballot measure had 84 percent support, while only 13 percent opposed it. Among Republicans, 79 percent were opposed, the poll found, according to Axios. California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles on August 14, 2025. California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles on August 14, poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters from August 10 to August 14, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. California remains a solidly blue state where Democrats handily outnumber Republicans. Former Vice President Kamala Harris carried it by 20 points last November, so Democrats are hopeful this ballot measure will fall on partisan lines. But the state has an independent redistricting community that was passed by voters and remains popular. A Politico poll released last week found that 64 percent of California voters support keeping the commission, while only 36 percent support returning redistricting authority to the state legislature. Newsom, who is viewed as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has cast the ballot measure as a temporary measure, which would no longer be in effect after the 2030 census, which is only in response to Texas' redistricting efforts. It would not go into effect unless Texas or other Republican states first redraw their lines. Republicans, however, have described it as a power grab that violates the will of Californians. What People Are Saying David Binder wrote in the poll, per Axios: "Voter trends on this measure closely mirror the presidential election results of November 2024, in which Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump in California by 58% to 38%. Poll results indicate that Proposition 50 will fall along similar partisan lines." Representative Kevin Kiley, a California Republican, wrote to X on Tuesday: "Newsom is overthrowing the Redistricting Commission in order to make California 'a whole lot bluer.' To accomplish this, his proposal expressly overrides the entire State Constitution. Partisan gerrymandering will become the supreme law of the land." Governor Newsom wrote to X on Tuesday: "Unlike Texas, we're not following @realDonaldTrump's orders to quietly try to redistrict our way out of losing the next election. In California, we're working transparently to respond if Texas enacts new maps — and we'll give the power to the people to make our final decision." What Happens Next Voters will make their decision about the redistricting plan in November. Both Democrats and Republicans will spend the coming months making their case to voters on whether the ballot measure should pass. Meanwhile, the redistricting war continues across the country, with Trump urging Texas Republicans to pass their plan "ASAP."
Politico
19 minutes ago
- Politico
Eric Adams' former top aide to face new charges
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Post first reported on the imminent charges. Lewis-Martin resigned from her role as chief adviser to the mayor in December, days before she was indicted on bribery charges. She's accused of helping a pair of real estate developers with bureaucratic issues in exchange for gifts to her son, including $100,000 he allegedly used to purchase a Porsche. She pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. The new charges will be entirely separate from those allegations, Aidala said. He is expecting at least two new cases to be brought, likely with co-defendants. 'Mayor Adams was not involved in this matter and has not been accused of or implicated in any wrongdoing,' City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement. 'He remains focused on what has always been his priority — serving the 8.5 million New Yorkers who call this city home and making their city safer and more affordable every single day. Ingrid Lewis-Martin no longer works for this administration.' Lewis-Martin remains a volunteer adviser on Adams' reelection campaign. It would be just the latest legal issue to dog Adams and his inner circle. A federal judge dismissed his own corruption charges after the Trump administration moved to drop the case. But a donor and a staffer have both pleaded guilty to conspiring on straw donor schemes benefitting Adams' campaign, and several other donors pleaded guilty to a separate scheme in state court. Top members of his administration, including his first deputy mayor, police commissioner and schools chancellor were also pushed out last year after coming under federal investigation.
