Albany, N.Y., March 12—State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, today warned that a “one-house” budget resolution approved today by the Senate Majority proposes billions of dollars in new state spending that is “unaffordable and unsustainable, and calls for billions of dollars in new taxes to try to pay for it.” 

The Senate Majority plan will continue to threaten state and local economies, and drive more and more taxpayers and businesses out of the state, O’Mara said.

O’Mara, opening debate for the Senate Minority Conference on the floor of the Senate, said that the Senate Majority is calling for spending far beyond the approximately $262.7 billion plan proposed by Governor Kathy Hochul in her 2026-2027 Executive Budget.

According to the Senate Minority finance staff, the Senate Majority budget proposes a nearly $270-billion state budget this year or more than $7 billion higher than Hochul’s proposed budget and more than $16 billion above current spending. If enacted, it would mark the highest ever state budget. 

The Senate Majority is also calling for nearly $6 billion in higher personal income and corporate taxes, while rejecting any proposals to delay or eliminate green energy mandates and timelines under the “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act” (CLCPA) of 2019. O’Mara and his colleagues in the Senate and Assembly Minority conferences have been calling for the elimination of numerous CLCPA mandates, including all-electric buildings, all-electric school buses, Cap-and-Invest, and, under legislation sponsored by O’Mara, providing immediate relief to ratepayers through the return of unspent funds currently being held by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority ((NYSERDA) and utility corporations.

O’Mara said, “The Senate Majority budget is a fantasy, but it’s a very scary and concerning fantasy for the future of New York State. This plan will do nothing but make living in New York State more expensive. While affordability is the buzzword of the year, every action the majorities take in this Legislature makes New York State more expensive. It defies any kind of common sense. We’ve taxed and spent our way into an unaffordability crisis. There’s no hesitation by the majorities to go full steam ahead with the CLCPA. In fact, this Senate resolution actually doubles down and explicitly supports moving forward with a Cap-and-Invest program that will make absolutely everything more expensive in this state. It’s not just going to be your utility bill. It’s going to be everything you buy in your everyday life, across the board. It keeps sending a message that we don’t care about business in this state. There's going to be less jobs and more exodus from New York if this is the direction the majorities continue to take. It doesn’t respond to the issues of affordability for everyday New York families, taxpayers, and workers. It won’t stop the exodus of New York taxpayers and employers to other states, and it risks further devastating already hard-hit state and local economies.”

[Watch Senator O'Mara's remarks on the floor of the Senate earlier today HERE.]

The Legislature’s majorities are approving their respective one-house resolutions in advance of final budget negotiations with Hochul. The one-house budgets traditionally stake out legislative priorities entering the negotiations on a final budget scheduled to be in place by April 1.

O’Mara stressed that the direction being pursued by Hochul and legislative leaders sets the stage for a final state budget this year that would significantly increase short- and long-term state government spending commitments, add billions of dollars to a state tax burden that is already one of the nation’s highest, and risk additional long-term costs for already overburdened counties and local property taxpayers. 

O’Mara noted that if the proposed Senate Majority budget were enacted it would mean that since New York State government fell under one-party, all-majority control in 2018, total government spending would have increased by at least $95 billion.

O’Mara and the Senate Minority conference again warned that Hochul and the Legislature’s majorities are focusing on tax hikes and unrestrained spending instead of providing broad-based tax relief to spark job creation and economic growth, restraining state spending, tackling unfunded state mandates on localities to ease the burden on local property taxpayers, and reducing New York’s long-term debt load.