Gov. Hochul’s $252B spendapalooza is meant to get her reelected — at YOUR expense

Gov. Hochul rolled out an obscene quarter-trillion-dollar spendapalooza Tuesday that picks taxpayers’ pockets, then buys votes with that money. Even while she touts her “affordability” agenda.

Don’t be fooled, New York: You’re being fleeced.

And all in an attempt to get her reelected.

Hochul’s $252 billion redistribution plan jacks up overall spending $9 billion (3.6%) from last year’s outrageous price tag — but boosts the state’s operating outlays a whopping 7.9% (multiples of inflation), to a stratospheric $143.8 billion.

Such figures are off the charts: Consider, for instance, that the Empire State’s per capita spending as of 2022 — $15,368 — was higher than every other state except Alaska, 50% higher than the national average ($10,622 per capita) and nearly twice as much as in Florida, which has more people, the Citizens Budget Commission reported.

Hochul continues this trend. It’s full of new giveaways, including a one-time $3 billion rebate program that will send checks of up to $500 to taxpayers; a tripling of the child tax credit, costing $800 million; $120 million expanding universal free school lunch; plus, a $1 billion middle-class tax cut that is spread so thin it won’t mean much.

To pay for her giveaways, Hochul is effectively hiking taxes — by extending the “temporary” tax surcharge on the rich.

And after all this, Hochul’s budget projects gaps of $6.5 billion in 2027, $9.8 billion in 2028 and $11 billion in 2029. Should the economy slow, those monster figures would grow even worse.

“The budget blows the opportunity to use billions of dollars to improve New Yorkers’ quality of life and stabilize the state’s finances,” chides Citizens Budget Commission prez Andrew Rein.

And get this: Boosts in Medicaid spending and school aid balloon costs, but the Legislature is sure to jack them up even more by the April 1 budget deadline. 

Hochul understands the problem: Medicaid’s spending trajectory is not sustainable, she admits; it’s roughly double what she inherited just 3 1/2 years ago. Yet she offers nothing to restrain that runaway growth. 

“With cuts to federal aid looming in Washington, Hochul is steering New York toward a fiscal cliff with the pedal all the way down the floor,” grumbles the Empire Center’s Bill Hammond.

Likewise, there’s no attempt to restrain state school-aid growth, such as eliminating hold harmless clauses.

Clearly, the gov is desperate to shore up her sagging political fortunes, by jeopardizing New York’s fiscal stability and slapping the “rich,” who are sure to keep fleeing the state.

New Yorkers who see through her charade can express their disapproval at the voting booth next year.