budget

“So far we have been able to keep the budget balanced while minimizing the impact on New Yorkers and fighting the pandemic.”

"I talk to the Republican governors all day long, they need a stimulus package. They spent money on COVID, their revenues are down.”

The governor has temporarily held back 20% in aid payments to schools, local governments and others, under emergency powers granted to him by the State Legislature.

“We have waited long enough for the federal government to act, and we are going to come up with our own plan.”

“They had been promising, promising, promising. It’s not that I was waiting without them suggesting possibility. They have been saying we’re going to do it. Then they didn’t.”

“Democrats are not providing any oversight of the governor’s decisions throughout this pandemic. And that is a real problem that I think should concern all New Yorkers.”

“The ideal situation would be to see this kind of turnout, without having to go through the expense of the postage and printing of absentee ballots."

The state’s economy could lose a staggering $243 billion, or 14% of the state’s gross domestic product, over the course of the pandemic and the economic recovery.

The governor has said he might cut funding to schools, hospitals and local governments by 20%, but he said Friday no decision has been made.

The New York State School Boards Association says schools are bracing for teacher lay offs over the next year.