The federal tax and spending changes signed by President Donald Trump on July 4 will have significant implications for New York. The most immediate: to reveal Albany’s short-sighted fiscal decisions and long-ignored abuses — something criticisms of the changes conceal.
The state spending deal reached in May by Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative Democrats hiked outlays by 9.3%, three times faster than inflation.
A big part of that growth was in Medicaid, the joint state-federal program ostensibly for the poor and disabled whose enrollment has roughly tripled since 2000.
Today it and related programs cover a majority of New York City residents.
In the last budget, Hochul and the Legislature hiked Medicaid spending by $6.2 billion (16%).
That helped the state juice more federal money from the program, but it also painted a bulls-eye for DC fiscal hawks concerned about the $36 trillion national debt.
Federal aid and borrowing aside, New