NYs Kathy Hochul pitches $252B budget plan stuffed with handouts and shes already blaming Trump if anything goes wrong

Gov.Kathy Hochul unveiled her $252 billion budget proposal stuffed with handouts on Tuesday — but she’s already blaming the Trump’s administration if there are issues propping up the spending plan.Hochul’s has touted the giveaways as part of an “affordability” agenda but that, combined with spiraling spending on Medicaid and school aid have experts worried the Empire State will be on shaky ground in the long run.Hochul’s proposal includes:Hochul’s budget office said the handouts are being paid for by around $5 billion in surpluses from higher-than-expected tax revenues — but critics warned the governor’s plan gorges on the extra cash for short-term initiatives to boost her 2026 reelection campaign.Still, Hochul played the pre-emptive blame game during her budget address, saying the federal government shouldered the fiscal responsibility to deliver on the budget’s promises.“Those who are hurt need to raise their voices and direct that anger at Washington and push their members of Congress to fight for them because New York and other states will simply not be able to shoulder these costs on our own,” Hochul said during her address.“I’m just simply framing where the debate should be,” Hochul later told reporters.Many New York programs hinge on federal support and the budget would be balanced very delicately, with huge funding contingent on the second Trump administration’s policies.Number crunchers said the budget didn’t do enough to keep the state’s fiscal house in order.“Despite strong revenues and continued economic growth, Governor Kathy Hochul’s Executive Budget weakens the State’s fiscal foundation and competitiveness: it balloons spending, fails to restrain unaffordable Medicaid and education spending growth, spreads many ‘affordability’ programs too thin to provide meaningful relief, and extends the ‘temporary’ income tax surcharge,” Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein wrote in a statement Tues...