Groups Urge $5.1 Million in Budget Funding for Authorities Budget Office
March 19, 2026
VIA EMAIL
Kathy C. Hochul
Governor of New York State
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins
New York State Senate
Re: Matching the Assembly’s budget proposal for $5.1 million for the Authorities Budget Office
Dear Governor Hochul and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins,
Our groups urge you to adopt a budget that appropriates $5.13 million for the Authorities Budget Office (ABO), as the Assembly’s one-house budget proposed.
Matching the Assembly’s budget proposal will ensure that the ABO has the necessary resources to implement the modernization of the Public Authorities Reporting Information System (PARIS) that was allocated $6 million in the Capital Projects budget. Governor Hochul’s goal of modernizing PARIS is laudable, but it is essential that the ABO has the necessary staff to complete the overhaul.
Importantly, ABO funding has nearly doubled during Governor Hochul’s tenure, increasing from $2.05 million in fiscal year 2022 to $3.83 million in fiscal year 2026. But the ABO still falls short of the originally-envisioned 30 full-time staff, with just 17 full-time employees to oversee close to 600 state and local authorities and even more subsidiaries that hold $333.1 billion in public debt.
The enacted budget should appropriate $5.13 million for the ABO to ensure that the modernization of PARIS is executed properly and that the ABO can fulfill its mission.
Sincerely,
Reinvent Albany
Citizens Budget Commission
Citizens Union
Common Cause/NY
League of Women Voters of New York State
New York Public Interest Research Group
cc:
Carl Heastie, Assembly Speaker
Assemblymember Gary Pretlow, Chair of Committee on Ways and Means
Senator Liz Krueger, Chair of Finance Committee