A state’s budget is a policy, planning, and fiscal document all in one. CUNY ISLG’s staff includes former senior state and local government officials, budget directors, and department heads; tapping into this knowledge, we developed this guide—and series—for policymakers, legislative staff, researchers, advocates, and the public to clarify the New York State budget process.
This means shedding light on who makes key decisions, how and when decisions take shape, and where there are opportunities to provide input.
How to Use This Guide
A state’s budget is a policy, planning, and fiscal document all in one. It addresses the needs of maintaining the statewide government, funds initiatives in cities and counties, and generally serves as a blueprint for state leadership’s priorities. It is also a complex, iterative process that involves partners from across the geographical and ideological spectrum.
The CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance works with policymakers, agency leadership, and the community to make public systems work for everyone. ISLG’s staff includes former senior state and local government officials, budget directors, legal experts, and department heads as well as community practitioners. Tapping into this knowledge, we developed this guide—and series—for policymakers, legislative staff, researchers, advocates, and the public to clarify the New York City budget process.
This guide is meant to shed light on who makes key decisions, how and when decisions take shape, and where there are opportunities to provide input.The three-part Inside the New York Budget Process series is meant to shed light on who makes key decisions, how and when decisions take shape, and where there are opportunities to provide input. See Inside the New York City Budget Process to delve into the City budget process. A subsequent edition will detail how the City and State processes work in tandem.
This work also complements New York State's official Citizen's Guide to the Budget by focusing on how the budget process operates in practice. Together, these publications provide both the formal framework and the practical context needed to understand New York State's budget process.
The Timeline, Actors, and Access Points of the New York State Budget Process
The New York State budget is the product of a year-round process involving the governor, legislature, Division of the Budget (DOB), state agencies, local governments, public authorities, advocacy organizations, and the public. Each contributes at different stages and in different capacities to the development, review, negotiation, adoption, implementation, and oversight of the State budget.
The process is guided by Article VII of the state constitution, state statute, and the rules of each house of the legislature.1 Article VII gives the governor a dominant role in the budget process. It establishes that the governor creates the first iteration of the budget and limits the legislature’s ability to amend the governor’s proposal. Budget development occurs within this framework and is formed through internal processes and practices that have developed over time. The amount of expected revenue and other resources for the upcoming fiscal year dictates the policy choices considered throughout budget development.
The timeline that follows traces the budget from the development of the executive budget through public review, negotiation, implementation, and adoption of the next. It highlights the major milestones, principal participants, and opportunities for engagement throughout the process.
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The formal timeline tells only part of the story. Shaping the budget involves extensive internal processes that are less visible from the outside, with decisions developing at multiple levels and involving a wide range of participants. The work extends from the governor and legislative leaders to agency and legislative fiscal staff, and across the governor's office, the Division of the Budget, state agencies, and the legislature and its fiscal committees.
The executive budget is the governor's proposal for the State's spending and revenues for the upcoming fiscal year. It is constructed primarily behind closed doors with limited participation by the legislature and no clear avenues for public review or participation.
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The governor establishes the administration's fiscal and policy priorities and makes the final decisions on major spending, revenue, and policy initiatives.
Setting Priorities and Making Decisions
Throughout budget development, the governor works closely with the budget director and senior staff in the governor’s office, also known as the Executive Chamber, to evaluate and balance competing priorities, fiscal constraints, implementation considerations, and the administration's broader policy agenda to determine which proposals will move forward.
Advising and Coordinating
Senior staff in the Executive Chamber advise and support the governor directly, helping coordinate policy, operational, legal, and fiscal considerations across the administration. They work closely with DOB and agency leadership as major budget decisions are considered and resolved.
Bringing Different Perspectives to the Decision
The governor's senior staff bring different perspectives to these decisions. Policy staff assess how proposals advance the administration's priorities; operations staff consider implementation and agency capacity; counsel advises on legal and constitutional issues; and DOB provides fiscal analysis and recommendations. Together, these perspectives help inform decisions about which proposals move forward, at what level of funding, and with what policy or operational conditions.
Planning and Budget Preparation
(Spring-Fall)
The work of preparing the next budget begins soon after the current budget is enacted. As the Division of the Budget (DOB) and state agencies implement the present budget, they evaluate programs and consider priorities for the following year’s budget.
DOB Issues Budget Instructions (Fall)
DOB issues budget instructions, often referred to as the "Call Letter," establishing the fiscal guidance, priorities, requirements, and schedule agencies should follow for the upcoming budget.
Agencies Develop Budget Requests (Fall)
Following DOB's budget instructions, agencies prepare budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year that cover ongoing operations as well as new initiatives, staffing, capital needs, administrative requirements, and other matters.
DOB Develops the Financial Plan (Fall)
DOB develops and continually updates the State's financial plan, the fiscal structure linking projected revenues, expenditures, and economic expectations. The financial plan provides the framework within which expenditure requests may be weighed against available resources and competing priorities.
DOB Reviews Agency Budget Requests (Fall)
DOB works with agencies to assess the fiscal, policy, and operational effects of their budget requests. Through an iterative process, proposals are refined and adjusted as DOB budget examiners and agencies work to balance agency priorities with the Financial Plan and other priorities.
Agency Budget Hearings (November)
DOB conducts internal budget hearings2 at which agency heads present and discuss their budget requests. The hearings provide the governor's office and DOB with an opportunity to question agencies about their budget requests. Legislative representatives may attend and question agency representatives, though in practice they typically do not. These hearings, along with all other executive budget preparation activities, are not open to public participation.
Quick Start to the Upcoming Budget (November)
By November 5 of each year, the governor, legislative leaders, and the state comptroller are required to report their estimates of state receipts and disbursements for the current and upcoming fiscal years. By November 15, their fiscal staff meet in public to review and report on the economic outlook, revenue forecasts, and other factors affecting the State's financial plan. Known as "Quick Start", this process begins to establish the state's fiscal outlook for the upcoming budget to facilitate its timely adoption 3. While Quick Start has occurred in recent years, the governor and legislature have, at times, bypassed this step of the budget process.
Governor’s Budget Decisions (Late Fall-Early Winter)
The governor, senior staff, and DOB leadership review agency proposals, evaluate competing priorities, and make decisions regarding new initiatives, spending priorities, capital investments, and operations, among others. Budget recommendations evolve through ongoing discussions between the governor's office, DOB, and state agencies.
The executive budget is constructed from the ground up and refined from the top down.
The executive budget is constructed from the ground up and refined from the top down. Agency staff and DOB analysts develop the detailed components; unit chiefs, deputy directors, and senior DOB leadership assess these against the State's broader fiscal and policy priorities; and the budget director brings major issues to the governor and senior executive leadership. Decisions then move back and forth through the organization, shaping the components that ultimately become the executive budget. 4
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The executive budget is constructed from the ground up and refined from the top down. Agency staff and DOB analysts develop the detailed components; unit chiefs, deputy directors, and senior DOB leadership assess these against the State's broader fiscal and policy priorities; and the budget director brings major issues to the governor and senior executive leadership. Decisions then move back and forth through the organization, shaping the components that ultimately become the executive budget.4 (--> this is the paragraph outside of the box)
The Budget Director: Leading the Budget Process
The budget director leads the Division of the Budget and oversees the development of the Executive Budget from its initial construction through final decisions. The director manages DOB's senior leadership and staff, resolves major issues that emerge through the budget process, and serves as the governor's principal fiscal advisor. The director brings major fiscal and policy issues to the governor and senior executive officials, negotiates key decisions, and directs DOB in converting those decisions into the individual components of the budget.
Launch the Process
The executive budget preparation process formally begins when the budget director issues the annual Call Letter to agency heads. The letter establishes the fiscal assumptions, priorities, requirements, and timetable that guide agencies as they develop their requests.
Build the Foundation
Building the next budget starts with the budget that is already in place. DOB budget analysts and examiners and agency staff establish the baseline,5 or the cost of continuing existing programs and services. Staffing, caseloads, contracts, and inflation, among other costs, are all taken into account. The baseline determines what additional resources, savings, or changes may be needed6.
Set the Financial Framework
While DOB budget staff work with agencies to develop spending proposals, other parts of DOB build the fiscal framework, or the financial plan, within which these proposals must fit. Fiscal planning and forecasting bring together revenue, spending, economic, and other financial information against which budget proposals are evaluated and adjusted.
As the budget takes shape, fiscal planning staff continually reassess the resources available within the plan as spending decisions, revenue expectations, and policy choices change.
Shape the Agency's Request
Budget analysts and examiners work closely with agency staff to develop the agency's requests into proposals that can be considered at higher levels of DOB. Together they work through the assumptions, costs, staffing, program design, and implementation issues behind a request, readying it for the next level of review by unit and senior DOB leadership.
An agency request may change considerably before it moves on. It may be scaled back, combined with another proposal, offset by savings, or revised in a different manner.
Assemble and Prioritize
Unit chiefs bring together the requests and recommendations that budget staff responsible for their agencies and programs develop. They review proposals across their portfolios, identify competing or overlapping requests, and prioritize recommendations for further consideration by DOB's senior leadership.
Fit the Pieces Together
At the deputy and senior leadership levels, DOB begins to look across the budget as a whole. Recommendations from individual units are evaluated against the financial plan, available resources, and the administration's priorities. Proposals may be adjusted, deferred, combined, or offset by savings as DOB works to make the pieces fit within the overall budget.
This process is multi-directional. Questions and decisions move up and down the staff levels until proposals are refined, reconciled, and ready to move forward.
Executive Budget Submission
(January)
Under Article VII of the State Constitution, the governor must submit a budget to the legislature by February 1 in the year following a gubernatorial election and, in other years, by the second Tuesday following the first day of the annual legislative session.
The submission includes appropriation bills (itemized authorization to spend), suggested legislation (known as Article VII legislation) to carry out the proposal, and the financial plan that will support them. It becomes the starting point for the legislature's consideration of the budget.
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Appropriation Bills: These statutes authorize the state to spend money during a fiscal year. They authorize spending across various budget bills:
State Operations: Funds for the day-to-day operations of State agencies, including employee salaries, contractual services, and other operating expenses.
Local Assistance: State aid to local governments, school districts, and nonprofit organizations for programs and services.
Debt Service: Funding to make principal and interest payments on State debt.
Legislative and Judiciary: Provides the operations of the Legislature and the State Judiciary.
Capital Projects: Funding for the construction, improvement, and maintenance of State infrastructure and other capital assets.
Article VII Legislation: New York differs from other states in its use of Article VII bills. These bills contain legislation to implement policy changes necessary to carry out the policies and programs contained within the budget. For the 2026–27 executive budget, the Article VII bills were:
Public Protection and General Government (PPGG)
Education, Labor and Family Assistance (ELFA)
Health and Mental Hygiene (HMH)
Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation (TED)
Revenue
Executive Budget Amendments
(February-March)
The governor is constitutionally authorized to submit amendments that modify the governor's budget proposal after the legislature has already begun its review. Known as 30- and 90-day amendments for the dates after the executive budget submission by which they occur, they typically reflect updated fiscal information, public concerns, or simply changes in priorities.
Following submission of the executive budget, the legislature begins its review of the governor's proposals, which are finally made available for public scrutiny and comment. Over the next several months, the senate and assembly will analyze the proposal, review testimony and other information, develop their own budget priorities, and draft and pass the legislation required to implement the new budget.
The legislature and public are afforded, for a short period of time, the opportunity to review and present recommendations on the governor's budget proposal. Within three months from submission, thousands of spending proposals, implementing legislation, and financing plans must be analyzed and amended to reflect the priorities of the legislature and public.
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Legislative budget decisions take shape through a combination of fiscal analysis, policy priorities, constituent and regional interests, and negotiation. The Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee, their staff, subject-matter committees, individual members, and leadership work together to build a budget that balances competing interests, available resources, and the priorities of the legislature.
Budget Review and Analysis
The Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee staff work from the analytical basis by which the members of the legislature respond to the budget. Public testimony, agency responses, fiscal data, and member input are all considered as staff identify issues and develop recommendations for leadership, committee chairs, and individual members.
Immediately upon release of the executive budget, the Senate Finance Committee and Ways and Means Committee staff produce their houses’ respective “Blue Book” and “Yellow Book.” These publications provide easy-to-read summaries and interpretations of the thousands of pages of appropriation bills, legislation, and other material the governor provides. These serve as important resources for legislative members and the public.
The Public Weighs In
The executive budget is developed internally without much public input; its submission to the legislature brings the proposal into the public realm. Beyond the Joint Fiscal Committee hearings on the budget, legislators hear from advocacy organizations, local governments, service providers, and constituents through meetings, legislative visits and lobby days, phone calls, letters, emails, and other forms of direct engagement.
The Legislative Response
The one-house budget resolutions bring together the priorities developed by each house and establish the position it takes into negotiations with the other house and the governor.
Building Each House's Position
As the review progresses, senate and assembly leadership, fiscal staff, and subject-matter committees work to determine what each house wants to change. The resulting one-house budget resolutions turn that analysis into a negotiating position.
When considering competing proposals, legislators and their staff consider the strength of the need, who is affected, the evidence supporting the proposed solution, the resources required, the feasibility of implementation, and the results that can be expected. How well a proposal aligns with a member's priorities, constituents, and broader legislative goals matters for its inclusion.
Prioritizing Within the Fiscal Envelope
By the end of the budget review process, legislative leaders review thousands of member requests and situate them within available resources. These requests must be narrowed down and prioritized to meet the fiscal realities of the budget. Legislative leaders consider regional balance, political vulnerability, the merits of a particular proposal; whether there is broad support among the members and in party conferences; the feasibility of the proposal; and the tradeoffs that may be required to promote the request within the overall budget agreement.
Setting the Stage for Negotiations
As legislative priorities take form, each house formally expresses its position and priorities in the form of individual one-house budget resolutions, providing the basis for the negotiations that follow.
Within three months from submission, thousands of spending proposals, implementing legislation, and financing plans must be analyzed and amended to reflect the priorities of the legislature and public.
Joint Fiscal Hearings (February-March)
The Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee conduct joint hearings on the executive budget during February and early March7. State agency officials, advocates, local governments, and subject matter experts provide testimony and respond to questions from legislators. Testimony may be presented in oral and/or written form. Written comments become part of the legislative record, allowing the public to voice their priorities even if they do not have the opportunity to testify in person.
Legislative Fiscal and Policy Staff Analysis (January-March)
The staff of the senate and assembly fiscal committees, the Senate Finance Committee, and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, respectively, analyze the executive budget’s fiscal implications, policy impacts, and assumptions about the economy, revenues, and expenditure levels.
State Comptroller's Analysis (Ongoing)
Throughout the budget process, the state comptroller provides independent analysis and perspective. This third-party assessment informs policymakers and the public of the budget's fiscal assumptions, implications, and risks, providing another lens through which to assess the state's financial position and budget choices.
Once the senate and assembly have established their respective budget positions, the governor, senate, and assembly negotiate toward a final agreement. Negotiations address funding levels, revenue proposals, capital investments, policy issues, and legislative matters. While a formal process is detailed in constitution, law, and legislative rules, significant negotiations take place outside the formal process among legislative leaders, committee chairs, individual members, administration officials, and staff.
Consensus Economic and Revenue Forecast (March 1)
By the end of February, the Senate Finance Committee, Assembly Ways and Means Committee, and the budget director convene a joint legislative-executive economic and revenue forecasting conference. The participants work toward a consensus forecast of the economy and State revenues, issued jointly by DOB and the two legislative fiscal committees by March 1.
Budget Conference Committees (March)
The senate and assembly establish, by legislative rule, joint budget conference committees to reconcile differences between the two houses’ budget proposals. The committees are organized around major budget areas and provide a formal and public forum for the houses to settle their differences. Conference committees are guided by a General Budget Conference Committee, often referred to as the Mothership, chaired by the senate majority leader and the speaker of the assembly. 8
Negotiating Parties (February-March)
Budget negotiations involve the governor and the two houses of the legislature, with members and staff participating at different levels and capacities until a final agreement is reached.
Leadership negotiations establish the broad parameters for budget negotiators and resolve issues that require high-level decisions or that arise when other negotiators fail to reach agreement.
Committee negotiations approach the budget from a policy perspective, addressing specific policy and funding priorities.
Member-to-member negotiations may occur to reconcile differences in jointly sponsored legislation or local issues that may be incorporated into the budget.
Staff negotiations between executive and legislative fiscal and policy staff work through the program and funding details, resolving any differences that may be settled at the staff level and producing the draft appropriation bills and Article VII statutory language to be incorporated into the final budget.
The governor and legislative leaders oversee a complicated negotiation process involving members and staff at many levels of government. Matters may move from staff to committee chairs, back to staff, and up to leadership for resolution. Proposals are revised, agreements are reached and revisited, and issues move back and forth until the parties can reconcile their differences. At its core, negotiation is about making trade-offs to reach agreement on a final budget.
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The Scale of the Negotiations
The negotiations encompass hundreds of billions of dollars in State spending and thousands of individual appropriations and statutory changes. What appears publicly as a single budget agreement is therefore the result of many separate decisions, trade-offs, and agreements reached throughout the process.
Informal Negotiations Begin Early
Although formal budget negotiations take place in the weeks leading up to the April first deadline, informal negotiations can begin much earlier. The governor, senate majority leader, and assembly speaker may begin discussing major priorities while the executive budget is still being constructed and before it is submitted to the legislature.
Establishing the Fiscal Framework
An important milestone in the negotiations is the consensus economic and revenue forecast, developed jointly by the executive and legislative fiscal staff. The process brings the parties together to assess the State's economic conditions and establish shared projections about revenues and, when appropriate, expenditures. These assumptions help establish the amount of available resources within the financial plan and provide a foundation for negotiations, including consideration of legislative additions to the Executive Budget.
Leadership Decision Making
As the budget moves toward negotiation, decision-making becomes increasingly concentrated among the governor and the leaders of the senate and assembly and primarily conducted in regularly called Leaders Meetings. Within each house, party conferences also meet regularly to hear from members on their reaction to the budget and negotiation updates, and to provide a forum for members to advance their priorities and preferred policy direction. Leadership then weighs these priorities against broad conference and policy goals with available resources. They then take member preferences to the negotiating table.
Balancing Priorities and Trade-Offs
As negotiations take shape, the governor, senate, and assembly weigh competing priorities against available resources. Members and leadership identify which proposals are most important to advance, where there is flexibility, and what they may be willing to trade to secure other priorities.
Working Through Differences
As the budget deadline approaches, the executive, senate, and assembly work on a three-way basis to resolve differences across the budget. The negotiations cover spending, revenues, programs, and legislative provisions, with individual issues moving between staff, committee leadership, and the principals until an overall agreement can be reached.
Budget passage in New York State is different from the normal legislative process, in which the Legislature may amend a bill before passing it and then forward it to the governor for approval or veto. Court decisions over the decades, specifically the Pataki v. Assembly and Silver v. Pataki line of cases, have substantially limited the legislature's power to alter the governor's appropriation bills, generally limiting it to striking or reducing items or adding separate items of appropriation, but not to changing the programmatic provision that accompany them, some of which may carry significant policy consequences. For this reason, reaching a three-way agreement is central to successfully adopting a budget representative of both the governor and the legislature.
Finalizing a Three-Way Agreement
Budget adoption in New York State depends in practice on the governor, senate, and assembly reaching a so-called Three-Way Agreement on the budget. Once an agreement is reached, the budget bills are adopted and passed by both houses of the legislature to become law.
The legislature passes budget bills, and the governor signs them into law. The spending and revenue plan for the new fiscal year is now in place, authorizing state agencies to implement the programs and activities funded in the budget. Ultimately, the budget reflects a range of inputs from different sources.
While the state's fiscal year begins on April 1, the budget is often not adopted until well after the fiscal year begins.
Emergency Appropriations
If the budget is not enacted by April 1, the governor often sends emergency appropriation bills to the legislature for passage to provide temporary spending authority, for a specified period, to keep government operating while budget negotiations continue.
Supplemental Appropriations
During the fiscal year, circumstances may arise that require the State to provide additional spending authority beyond what was included in the enacted budget or modify existing provisions. This is accomplished with the introduction of supplemental appropriation bills to address any post-budget adoption needs. These are made at the request of the governor and require legislative action and become part of the State's spending authority when enacted. 9
Following enactment, implementation begins with agencies receiving spending authority from DOB, which monitors execution throughout the year. At the same time, planning begins for the next fiscal year, continuing the ongoing budget cycle.
The New York State budget process has two dimensions: what is visible from the outside, the formal process, and what an insider knows through what happens behind closed doors, the informal process.
The New York State budget process has two dimensions: what is visible from the outside, the formal process, and what an insider knows through what happens behind closed doors, the informal process.The formal process is the one set out in the constitution, statute, and established budget rules—agency submissions, Division of the Budget review, the executive budget, legislative hearings and deliberations, negotiations, and ultimately enactment.
But understanding the formal steps alone is not enough to effectively navigate the budget. Alongside the official calendar are the meetings, relationships, conversations, negotiations, staff analyses, and decisions that shape what ultimately reaches—and moves through—the formal process. Even within the executive branch, for example, DOB examiners may meet informally with agencies to clarify requests and priorities before formal recommendations are made.
The practical lesson is simple: accessing and influencing the budget requires knowing both. The formal process tells you when decisions occur, who has formal authority, and what actions are required. The informal process helps you understand how priorities emerge, where decisions are shaped, and when to engage. Effective budget strategy therefore is not about reacting to the budget once it is released. It is about understanding the full cycle—and engaging early enough, and in the right places, to help shape the decisions before they become formal budget decisions.
From Process to Participation
The New York State budget is built through a continuous process of analysis, priorities, negotiation, and decision-making, moving between the executive and legislature, between public forums and closed-door negotiations, and between individual priorities and the broader fiscal and policy choices facing the State.
Understanding how these pieces fit together helps explain not only what happens, but where and when decisions are shaped. For legislators, staff, advocates, local officials, and the public, that understanding can help identify the people, institutions, and points in the process where engagement can make a difference.
Budget Resources
Legal Sources: Consolidated State Laws and New York State Constitution
NYS Executive Law (Chapter 18):
Article 3, § 31 (Division of the Budget): Formally establishes the Division of the Budget within the executive department and designates the budget director as the head of the division, directly appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the governor. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EXC/31
Article 8, § 180: Defines the statutory powers and duties of the budget director, including assisting the governor in assembling, analyzing, and revising agency estimates, as well as coordinating state financial plans. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EXC/180
Article 4, § 40: Establishes the Department of Audit and Control as a state government department, with the state comptroller as its head. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EXC/40
NYS Legislative Law (Chapter 32):
Article 2, § 23, 30-32: Establish the Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee as the legislature's designated fiscal bodies, directing all appropriation bills to them (§23), granting them investigative access to state agencies' records and operations (§30), setting the procedure for agency heads and the governor to testify before them on the budget (§31), and guaranteeing their leadership a seat at the executive's budget-building hearings before the budget is submitted (§32). Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LEG/A2
Article 2, § 32-A: Requires the Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee to jointly or separately hold public hearings prior to the enactment of the executive budget. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LEG/32-A
NYS State Finance Law (Chapter 56):
Article 2 & Article 3: Details the legal processes for baseline/current-services budgeting, agency budget requests, capital planning, consensus economic and revenue forecasting and financial plan development managed by DOB. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/STF
Article 4: Details how appropriated funds get administered after the enactment of the budget. Article 4 sets time restrictions and rules for how these funds may later be reclassified, transferred, or supplemented. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/STF/A4
NYS Constitution:
Article V, § 1: Establishes the state comptroller as an independently elected constitutional officer, with duties such as auditing the collection of state revenues, vouchers, official accounts and prescribing accounting methods to perform such audits. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CNS/A5S1
Article VII: Governs the entire state budget process, including the preparation and submission of the executive budget, the legislature’s review and changes of budget bills, and state borrowing and debt limits. Legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CNS/A7
New York State Government Websites
New York State Division of the Budget: New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). https://www.budget.ny.gov/
New York Office of the Governor: Governor. (n.d.). Kathy Hochul. https://www.governor.ny.gov/about-governor-hochul
New York State Senate: The New York State Senate. (n.d.). https://www.nysenate.gov/
New York State Assembly: New York State Assembly. (n.d.). https://nyassembly.gov/
Independent Publications and Guides
The Rockefeller Institute of Government:
Rockefeller Institute of Government. (2024, May 15). Ep. 92. 100 Years of Executive Budgets. Policy Outsider. https://rockinst.org/issue-area/ep-92-100-years-of-executive-budgets/
An overview detailing the historical and institutional evolution of New York’s executive budget system, tracing how power is shared between the governor's executive chamber, DOB, and the legislature.
Ward, R. B. (2010, June 15). Enacting NY’s Budget, Keeping It Balanced. Rockefeller Institute of Government. https://rockinst.org/blog/enacting-nys-budget-keeping-balanced/
An analysis detailing how DOB and the governor negotiate spending priorities while maintaining statutory multi-year balance.
SUNY Press:
Feldman, D. L. (2010, September 1). Tales from the Sausage Factory: Making Laws in New York State. J Stor. https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.18377134?
A former New York State assemblyman (Daniel L. Feldman) details the legislative experience and the shaping of New York’s public policy.
Division of the Budget:
Citizen’s Guide, NYS Division of the Budget , www.budget.ny.gov/citizen/index.html.
DOB’s own guide to the budget process.
Official Budget Resources
DOB issues “Call Letter” (Summer): New York State Division of the Budget . (n.d.). FY 2027 Call Letter. Budget Information. https://www.budget.ny.gov/guide/brm/fy27-call-letter.pdf
“Quick Start” Budget Meeting and Report (November): New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). FY 2027 “Quick start” Budget Meeting. Quick Start Meeting and Report. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/press/2025/fy27-quickstart/index.html
Sample Written Testimony for Joint Fiscal Hearings on Executive Budget (February): New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials. (2026, February 11). The 2026-27 Executive Budget Testimony of the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials. Joint Fiscal Committees’ Hearing on the Executive Budget - Local Government/General Government. https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/admin/structure/media/manage/filefile/a/2026-02/nycom-local-aid-hearing-testimony-final-2026-27.docx_.pdf
State Comptroller’s Analysis of the Executive Budget (February): Office of the New York State Comptroller. (2026, February). Report on the state Fiscal Year 2027 executive budget . State Budget Reports. https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/sfy-2027-executive-budget-report.pdf
Consensus Economic and Revenue Forecast (March): New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, March 1). ECONOMIC AND REVENUE CONSENSUS REPORT FY 2027. FY 2027 Economic and Revenue Consensus Forecasting Conference. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/supporting/forecast/fy27/fy2027-consensus-report-memo.pdf
General Budget Conference Committee’s “Table Targets”: The New York State Senate. (2019, March 21). Majority leader Andrea Stewart-cousins and speaker Carl Heastie announce agreement on budget conference committee table targets | nysenate.gov. https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2019/majority-leader-andrea-stewart-cousins-and-speaker-carl-heastie
New York State Senate Finance Committee Blue Book: The New York State Senate Finance Committee. (2026, January 26). The Blue Book: Senate majority staff analysis of the 2026-2027 Executive Budget Proposal. https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/articles/2026/blue-book-senate-majority-staff-analysis-2026-2027-executive-budget-proposal
New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee Yellow Book: Assembly Ways and Means Committee . (2026a, January 26). 2026-27 Executive Budget Yellow Book. https://nyassembly.gov/Reports/WAM/2026yellow/
New York State Assembly One-House Budget Proposals: 2026-2027 assembly proposal. NYS Assembly 2026-2027 Budget Information. (n.d.). https://www.assembly.state.ny.us/2026budget/?sec=assembly
New York State Senate One-House Budget Proposals: The New York State Senate . (n.d.). Senate budget resolution in response to the 2026-2027 Executive Budget submission. 2025-R1722. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/R1722
Core Executive Budget Documents
Governor’s Submissions (January)
Financial Plan (developed by DOB in the Fall): New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). FY 2027 Executive Budget Financial Plan. FY 2027 New York State Budget. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/fp/fy27fp-ex.pdf
Executive Budget Briefing Book: New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). FY 2027 New York State Executive Budget. Briefing Book. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/book/briefingbook.pdf
Five-Year Capital Program and Financing Plan: New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). Five-Year capital program and financing plan. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/cp/fy27cp-ex.pdf
Economic and Revenue Outlook: New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). Economic and Revenue Outlook . FY 2027 New York State Executive Budget. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/ero/fy27ero.pdf
State Agency Presentations: New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). FY 2027 Executive Budget Agency Presentations. FY 2027 New York State Executive Budget. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/agencies/index.html
Executive Budget Appropriation Bills (Funding)
Legislature and Judiciary: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, January 20). Legislature and Judiciary Appropriations Bill. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/approps/leg-judi.pdf
Debt Service: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026b, January 20). State Debt Service Appropriations Bill. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/approps/debt.pdf
Aid to Localities: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026a, January 20). Aid to Localities Appropriations Bill . FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/approps/local.pdf
State Operations: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026d, January 20). State Operations Appropriations Bill. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/approps/stateopsbudget.pdf
Capital Projects: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, January 20). Capital Projects Appropriations Bill . FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/approps/capitalprojectsbudget.pdf
Executive Budget Article VII Bills (Implementation)
Education, Labor and Family Assistance: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026a). FY 2027 New York State Executive Budget Education, Labor and Family Assistance Bill. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/artvii/elfa-bill.pdf
Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026d, January 20). Transportation, Economic Development And Environmental Conservation Article VII Legislation. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/artvii/ted-bill.pdf
Public Protection and General Government: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026c, January 19). Public Protection and General Government Article VII Bill. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/artvii/ppgg-bill.pdf
Health and Mental Hygiene: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026b, January 19). Health and Mental hygiene. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/artvii/hmh-bill.pdf
Revenue: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026b, January 18). Revenue Article VII Bill. FY 2027 NYS Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/artvii/revenue-bill.pdf
Additional Executive Budget Documents Submitted
School Aid Runs (January): New York State Education Department and Division of the Budget. (2026, January 20). School Aid Runs . FY 2027 Executive Budget Documents. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/local/school/2627schoolruns.pdf
Executive Budget Amendments (February – March): New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.). FY 2027 Executive Budget Legislation Amendments. FY 2027 Executive Budget Legislation. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/fy27bills.html
Core Enacted Budget Documents: Governor’s Submissions (April)
Financial Plan: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, June). FY 2027 Enacted Budget Financial Plan. FY 2027 Enacted Budget Overview. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/en/fy27fp-en.pdf
Capital Programming and Financing Plan: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, June). FY 2027 NYS Enacted Budget Five-Year Capital Program and Financing Plan. FY 2027 Enacted Budget Overview. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/en/fy27cp-en.pdf
Financial Plan First Quarterly Update: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, July). FY 2027 Enacted Budget Financial Plan First Quarterly Update . FY 2027 Enacted Budget Overview. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/en/fy27fp-en-q1.pdf
Enacted Budget Appropriation Bills (Funding)
Legislature and Judiciary: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, June 09). LEGISLATURE AND JUDICIARY BUDGET (S9001-A / A10001-A). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Debt Service: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, June 09). DEBT SERVICE FUND--GENERAL DEBT SERVICE FUND (S9002-A / A10002-A). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Aid to Localities: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, June 09). AID TO LOCALITIES BUDGET (S9003-D / A10003-D). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
State Operations: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, June 10). STATE OPERATIONS BUDGET (S9000-D / A10000-D). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Capital Projects: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, June 10). CAPITAL PROJECTS BUDGET (S9004-D / A10004-D). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Enacted Budget Article VII Bills (Implementation)
Education, Labor and Family Assistance: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, May 28). Legislation necessary to implement the state education, labor, housing and family assistance budget for the 2026-2027 state fiscal year (S9006-C / A10006-C). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, May 26). Legislation necessary to implement the state transportation, economic development and environmental conservation budget for the 2026-2027 state fiscal year (S9008-C / A10008-C). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Public Protection and General Government: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, May 27). Legislation necessary to implement the state public protection and general government budget for the 2026-2027 state fiscal year (S9005-C / A10005-C). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Health and Mental Hygiene: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, May 28). Legislation necessary to implement the state health and mental hygiene budget for the 2026-2027 state fiscal year (S9007-C / A10007-C). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Revenue: New York State Division of the Budget. (2026, May 28). Legislation which are necessary to implement the state fiscal plan for the 2026-2027 state fiscal year (S9009-C / A10009-C). Legislative Information Site. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/navigate.cgi?NVDTO:
Additional Enacted Budget Documents Submitted
School Aid Runs: New York State Division of the Budget. (n.d.-b). FY 2027 Enacted Budget School Aid Runs. FY 2027 Enacted Budget Overview. https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy27/ex/local/school/2627schoolaid.pdf
Glossary of Common Budget Terms and Bills
Aid to Localities Bill
This appropriation bill authorizes large lump-sum appropriations for school aid and Medicaid, as well as other programs by which state tax money is sent to local government entities.
Assembly Ways and Means Committee
The assembly's standing fiscal committee, to which all appropriation bills introduced in the assembly are referred, and which reviews and reports on the budget on the assembly's behalf.
Capital Program and Financing Plan
A multi-year state planning document that projects capital spending commitments and the corresponding financing sources (primarily bond proceeds) needed to fund them.
Capital Projects Bill
This appropriation bill includes funding for capital projects, most of which is bonded.
Consensus Economic and Revenue Forecast
A statutorily required joint forecast, agreed upon by the governor's Division of the Budget and the legislature's fiscal committees, that establishes shared economic and revenue projections used as the basis for budget negotiations.
Debt Service Bill
This appropriation bill allows New York to pay its debt service and is usually approved unanimously.
Disbursements
Unless otherwise qualified, cash paid out during a fiscal year, irrespective of when the corresponding obligation was incurred.
Education, Labor and Family Assistance Bill
This Article VII bill includes policy regarding welfare, primary, secondary, and higher education.
Fiscal Year
An accounting period of 12 months, which in New York State begins April 1 and ends the following March 31. By convention, each fiscal year is named for the calendar year in which it ends (fiscal year 2027 begins in April 2026 and ends in March 2027).
Health and Mental Hygiene Bill
This Article VII bill sets policy for health programs.
Legislature and Judiciary Bill
This appropriation bill funds New York's assembly and senate as well as its state judiciary. It is often approved last, for fear that legislators be accused of approving their own pay before other programs are established.
Public Protection and General Government Bill
This Article VII bill sets policy on public safety programs as well as other actions relating to local government.
Receipts
Unless otherwise qualified, cash received during a fiscal year, irrespective of when the monies are earned.
Revenue Bill
An Article VII legislative bill that proposes the tax changes, fees, and policy adjustments required to fund state appropriations and balance the budget.
School Aid Runs
Detailed data reports produced by the state showing projected school aid allocations by school district under proposed and enacted budget formulas.
Senate Finance Committee
The senate's standing fiscal committee, to which all appropriation bills introduced in the Senate are referred, and which reviews and reports on the budget on the Senate's behalf.
State Agency Presentations
Documents submitted with the executive budget that detail individual state agency functions, proposed spending levels, and staffing allocations by program and category.
State Operations Bill
This appropriation bill authorizes funding for state agencies and the programs that they carry out.
Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation Bill
This Article VII bill sets policy for transportation and economic development.
project credits
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