{"id":84572,"date":"2025-07-23T00:44:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T00:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/84572\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T00:44:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T00:44:24","slug":"to-plug-new-yorks-massive-budget-gaps-gov-hochul-should-focus-on-growing-the-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/84572\/","title":{"rendered":"To plug New York’s massive budget gaps, Gov. Hochul should focus on growing the economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a novel idea for Gov. Kathy Hochul: Focus on growing the state\u2019s economy \u2014 keeping taxes low, unleashing fracking, easing regulations \u2014 and generating new revenue to avoid painful cuts and tax hikes as she closes her massive budget gap.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s federal budget restructuring popped a hole Hochul\u2019s own $254 billion spending plan, so she\u2019s already directed state agencies to cut $750 million. <\/p>\n

She\u2019ll have to come up with another $3 billion in savings, or new revenue, next year. <\/p>\n

And the Citizens Budget Commission flags a $22 billion long-term structural imbalance.<\/p>\n

One way to plug the hole is to supercharge the economy. A growing economy means a growing tax base.<\/p>\n

This week, Politico Playbook declared<\/a> that \u201cWall Street could be the state budget\u2019s savior next year \u2014 or a major headache.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s dangerous for the state\u2019s economic fortunes to be dependent on the ebb and flow of the financial markets. <\/p>\n

(Wall Street provides about a fifth of state tax revenue.)<\/p>\n

New York has so much more to offer: Tech companies, like AI, are certainly growing. <\/p>\n

But energy-intensive industries and large companies won\u2019t locate here unless New York offers reliable, reasonably priced energy.<\/p>\n

And Hochul, pandering to green extremists, has been downright hostile to traditional sources of energy, particularly natural gas.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s climate law, which then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo put in place and Hochul adopted, sets all kinds of rules for emissions that discourage new tech business. <\/p>\n

And renewables, like wind and solar, won\u2019t cut it.<\/p>\n

Contrast that with the way investors view Pennsylvania: Just last week, they \u2014 along with Trump \u2014 announced<\/a> a whopping $90 billion injection of funds to turn Pittsburgh into a major AI hub. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another economic-bonanza-in-waiting in New York is the Southern Tier\u2019s Marcellus Shale Formation, with its massive quantities of natural gas. <\/p>\n

That gas has sat idle ever since Cuomo banned fracking (the process of extracting the gas) about a decade ago. <\/p>\n

Hochul has zero interest in lifting the ban, but if she did it could jumpstart the region \u2014 kicking off a new flow of revenues to help with her budget woes.<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania, fracking has been a major boon \u2014 for jobs, businesses and the state\u2019s balance sheet.<\/p>\n

Hochul can also boost New York\u2019s economy by making the state more business friendly overall. That means lowering taxes, not raising them. <\/p>\n

And scrapping many of the state\u2019s endless regulations; its minimum-wage laws alone are surely deterrents to businesses.<\/p>\n

Such steps will help the state in countless ways. <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll open up more jobs to New Yorkers (and the rise in demand for labor will itself push up wages). <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll boost economic activity, creating more prosperity for everyone. <\/p>\n

And they\u2019ll generate new revenue to help close the state\u2019s budget gap, reducing the need for cuts or tax hikes.<\/p>\n

Hochul can stick to the old ways \u2014 laying off workers, reining in spending (both of which are necessary, in any case) and\/or hiking taxes. <\/p>\n

(How she\u2019ll justify her $400-a-family refunds, meant to goose her reelection chances, is beyond us.) <\/p>\n

Or she can make New York a pro-growth state, by lifting the fracking ban, holding down taxes, promoting new energy production and relaxing regulations. <\/p>\n

We won\u2019t hold our breath waiting for that, but when her budget cuts and tax hikes hit, just remember: She had other options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a novel idea for Gov. Kathy Hochul: Focus on growing the state\u2019s economy \u2014 keeping taxes low,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":84573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,12613,79,4691,57313,15669,5371,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,1269,618,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-84572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-economic-development","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-editorial","12":"tag-fracking","13":"tag-government-spending","14":"tag-kathy-hochul","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-opinion","22":"tag-taxes","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114899783800687875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}