2023 Lookback: Budget and Legislative items

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, the state is currently in the third quarter of the fiscal year, which will end in March of 2024. Despite the time that has already passed, and with the next year ahead, experts believe that significant steps can be taken in the economic process.

Patrick Orecki, the Director of State Studies for the Citizens Budget Commission weighed in on the biggest items that will impact the next state budget. He explained that this time of year is when the next budget is calculated based on the available tax data already collected.

"So there are teams of people at the state who are monitoring tax returns especially to see what things are looking like going forward making projections of the economy and how that impacts taxes over the next year and years after that too," Said Orecki.

Also this week, Blair Horner the Executive Director for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) gave an analysis on the biggest legislative items of the past year. He explained how the 2023 legislative session set up a likely issue for the 2024 session.

"The budget that they concluded in April... Was sort of anticipating that there would be a deficit it sort of got bigger than they expected, then it shrunk back down again but I think the shadow that's gonna be cast over the session of 2024 is sort of the budget items and that's sort of tied to what happened in 2023," Said Horner.

To see these interviews and more, here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York: