The New York State Budget Process:

How has the process changed in recent years? How can you get your views considered?  How can you help to improve it?

The Fiscal Policy Institute and SENSES (the Statewide Emergency Network for Social and Economic Security) have joined together to develop a new training program on the state budget process.  Over 500 people have now participated in presentations of various versions of this program and the responses of the participants have been overwhelmingly positive.  If you would like to have this program offered at a conference or convention or other meeting of a group or organization with which you are involved, or if you would be interested in hosting a presentation of this program for the public or for some other general or specialized audience, send an e-mail to mauro@fiscalpolicy.org or contact Frank Mauro by telephone at 518-786-3156.

This program is particularly useful for those with little or no experienece in the New York state budget process.  It is also helpful for those who are familiar with the state budget process but who want to learn more about how it has changed in recent years and how those changes affect the work of nonprofit organizations. Presentations of this program can be structured to focus on one or more of the following four topics.

1. How does the New York State Budget work?  How has it changed in recent years?  How do state agencies determine and advance their priorities? How does the Governor develop the Executive Budget? How and when is the Executive Budget presented to the state legislature for action? How do the Senate and Assembly review the budget? How do they develop and advance their respective priorities? How have decisions of the State Court of Appeals limited the ways in which the legislature can amend the budget? How has the use of conference committees in the last three years affected the way in which the Senate, Assembly and Governor reconcile their differences and reach a budget agreement? What happens when a budget agreement is not reached by the beginning of the state fiscal year on April 1? How has the Governor used (or, from the perspective of some participants, misused) his line-item veto power in recent years?

2.  What information and other resources are available? and How can those materials be accessed?  How can you find out what is or isn’t in the Executive Budget? What are the key Executive Budget documents and what do they each contain? How can you get hard copies of those documents? How can you access these materials via the Internet? What summaries and analyses of the budget are published by the Senate, the Assembly, the State Comptroller and outside organizations?

3.  How can/do service providers, community organizations, faith-based groups, labor unions and other nonprofit organizations participate effectively in the state budget process? How can/do nonprofit organizations communicate effectively about budget issues with legislators, legislative staff, executive branch officials and their own members? How can/do interested groups and individuals monitor the activities of the state legislature as it considers the budget?

4.  How can the state budget process be improved?   What budget reform proposals  have been advanced in recent years by Governor Pataki, the legislative leaders, other legislators and outside organizations? How would these proposals change the process? What criteria can interested groups use in evaluating these proposals? Which can interested groups and individuals do to advance the reforms proposals with which they agree?  How can they develop and advance their own reform proposals?

Frank Mauro and Ron Deutsch developed this program to assist nonprofit organizations, local officials and other interested New Yorkers in better understanding how their state government works and in increasing their ability to participate effectively in this important part of the governmental process.  Here is some background information on Frank and Ron and the organizations they direct.

Frank Mauro is the Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonprofit research and education organization that was established in 1991 to increase public and governmental understanding of issues related to the fairness of the state-local tax system and the stability and adequacy of state and local public services. FPI pays particular attention to tax, budget and other policy issues that affect the economic well-being and the quality of life of low and moderate income New Yorkers. Prior to joining FPI in 1993, Mr. Mauro was Deputy Director of the State University of New York's Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. His earlier experience included service as Director of Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink’s Program Development Group, Secretary of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, and Director of Research for the New York City Charter Revision Commissions whose recommendations (including the establishment of the NYC Independent Budget Office) were adopted by the voters in 1988 and 1989.

Ron Deutsch is the Executive Director of SENSES, the Statewide Emergency Network for Social and Economic Security. SENSES is a network of human service, community economic development, religious, grass roots advocacy and labor organizations from throughout New York State. It works on a broad range of public policy issues affecting low-income New Yorkers. Mr. Deutsch joined SENSES in 1993 and became its Executive Director in 1998. As Executive Director of SENSES, he has been one of the leading experts in New York State on Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), entrepreneurial training and other strategies that expand economic opportunity and build the assets of low-income people. He also has played a leadership role in encouraging the state government and many localities in New York State to initiate innovative approaches for meeting the transportation needs of individuals who are trying to move from welfare to work. His efforts, in recent years, on these and other issues, have given him an insider’s view of the changes that have been occurring in the way the New York State Budget process works and of the impact of those changes on nonprofit organizations.