Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Tom DiNapoli

Tom DiNapoli

  • With No Relief from Washington in Sight and Billions in Budget Cuts Looming, What Can New York State Do?

    gov cuomo outlinesfy

    Gov. Cuomo delivers a budget address (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    Despite pleas from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and state and local government leaders across the nation for major new federal help for budgets devastated by the COVID-19 recession, there is still no clear path to Washington acting quickly to provide financial relief. 

    Although on May 15 the House of Representatives, with its Democratic majority, passed a $3 trillion aid bill for the country that included $1 trillion for state and local governments, President

    ...
  • Coronavirus Crash Prompts Renewed Calls for New York Divestment from Fossil Fuels, But Comptroller Stands Pat

    divest ny fos

    A protest to push for New York pension system divestment from fossil fuel stocks (photo: @350)


    The oil and gas industries are experiencing significant upheaval as the coronavirus pandemic decimates economies across the globe. The price of crude oil in the United States temporarily fell below $0 per barrel for the first time ever last month, prompting renewed energy among activists and elected officials in New York who want to rid the state pension fund of all investments in the fossil fuel industry.

    But the one person they must convince, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli,

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Coronavirus' Impact on State Finances, with Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    tom dinapoliwbai600

    State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on state finances (photo: Governor's Office)


    March 18, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Coronavirus' Impact on State Finances, with Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    tom dinapoli wbai317New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli joined the show to discuss how the coronavirus crisis may impact state finances and more. The comptroller talked with us just after his

    ...
  • ‘Possibility of a Prolonged Recession’: Coronavirus Could Wreak Havoc on City, State Budgets

    de Blasio Cuomo budget coronavirus

    Major challenges now & ahead for Mayor & Governor (photo: Rob Bennett/Mayor's Office)


    New York has weathered financial storms before, including after the 2008 recession and the September terror attacks in 2001. But the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to eclipse the scope of both those emergencies. The fiscal impact on the economy is impossible to predict with any certainty but suffice it to say, it will put a major dent in the city’s and state’s budgets for the coming fiscal year.

    In January, Governor Andrew Cuomo ...

  • New York City Economy Continues Setting Records, But Slower Growth Expected

    comp dinapoli growth

    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    New York City has experienced a remarkable and extended economic recovery since the devastation wrought by the global recession, with job growth continuing at levels higher than the state and the entire country, according to the latest report from State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. But the New York City Independent Budget Office, a fiscal watchdog agency, predicts that job growth in the city will sharply decline over the next two years across all private sector industries as the national economy

    ...
  • Final Signature Allows Implementation of Cuomo-DiNapoli Agreement to Restore Certain Contract Oversight Powers

    goccuomo con di

    Cuomo & DiNapoli (photo: Governor's Office)


    A resolution has finally been reached around how to deal with a thorny issue involving Governor Andrew Cuomo, contracting oversight, and the corruption that plagued some of the governor’s biggest economic development initiatives.

    As of December 31, all relevant parties have agreed to comply with an August agreement between Cuomo and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli restoring the comptroller’s oversight of some large contracts entered into by SUNY and CUNY and their affiliates, and by the Office of General

    ...
  • 'It's What I Was Elected To Do': State and City Leaders Take Different Approaches to Pension Fund Divestment from Fossil Fuel Companies

    pension divestment stringer de blasio

    Mayor de Blasio & Comptroller Stringer (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)


    Amid the larger discussion about addressing climate change before it’s too late, debate is raging in New York over whether government-run and -affiliated pension funds worth hundreds of billions of dollars and responsible for payments that support hundreds of thousands of retirees should divest from fossil fuel company stock.

    Advocates, elected officials, and others have been pushing at the city and state levels for full divestment so that the pension funds

    ...
  • Report Shows Nation-Leading Extent of New York's Nonprofit Sector

    council member eric ulrich food

    (photo: William Alatriste/New York City Council)


    New York has the largest nonprofit sector in the country, according to a new report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

    In 2017, New York nonprofits boasted over 1.4 million jobs and $78 billion in employee wages, both top marks across the United States, according to DiNapoli’s report released Tuesday. Between 2007 and 2017, the state added 175,000 jobs in the nonprofit

    ...
  • After Major Tax Revenue Drop, a ‘Positive Note’ & Much Uncertainty for State Fiscal Picture

    govandcuomo albany

    Budget Director Mujica, Gov. Cuomo, Comptroller DiNapoli (photo: governor's office)


    New York’s tax revenue fell by $3.7 billion, a 4.7% decline, in the 2019 fiscal year that ended March 31, according to the cash report released Friday by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. A drop was expected in projections made last year, but not to the degree it occured, setting off alarm bells earlier this year as the state started to see apparent effects of New York taxpayer behavior resulting from the new federal tax code. The state's latest projections from February did,

    ...
  • Uncertain Future for Secretive State Pork Program Tied to Renegade Democrats

    cuomo klein via gov

    Cuomo and Klein (photo: governor's office)


    Few New York residents have probably heard of the State and Municipal Facilities Program, or SAM, but in recent years, it has been one of the top avenues by which state lawmakers “bring home the bacon,” providing many millions of dollars in funding for district projects. Otherwise known as “pork,” these projects include things like new or renovated parks, schools, libraries, and more, with far greater funding going to legislators based on their political power.

    However, in this year’s

    ...
  • Report Undercuts Cuomo and DiNapoli Claims of Outmigration Because of Federal Tax Law

    governor and cuomo salt rev

    Gov. Cuomo, middle, and Comptroller DiNapoli, right (photo: Governor's office)


    In the last few months, Governor Andrew Cuomo and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli have raised red flags about the impact of the 2017 federal tax overhaul ushered through by President Trump and Republicans in Congress. Chiefly, they said that a new $10,000 cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction has led to a massive drop in revenue and is likely being accompanied by increased outmigration of high-earning New Yorkers to states with lower taxes.

    But

    ...
  • State Comptroller Discusses Fiscal Picture as Budget Season Heats Up

    alb gov comptroller

    Comptroller DiNapoli, right, and Gov. Cuomo (photo: governor's office)


    With a state budget due April 1 and several major question marks hanging over negotiations between Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli gave his latest assessment of New York’s economic outlook and key aspects of the budget picture. Appearing on WBAI radio’s Max & Murphy show on Wednesday, DiNapoli reiterated the concern

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    mxm logo

    Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits


    March 13, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    tom dinapoli 150With the state budget deadline of April 1 fast approaching, state finances in challenging position, and a wide variety of issues on the table as the governor and legislature negotiate, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli joined the show to give his

    ...
  • Cuomo's 2019 Agenda of Election, Campaign Finance and Government Ethics Reforms

    gov cuomo albany

    (Photo via the Governor's office)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a broad agenda of progressive legislation in his State of the State speech on Tuesday, accompanied by more detailed policy and budget books, including several measures aimed at improving New York’s democracy and increasing public trust in state government.

    Emboldened by full Democratic control of the State Senate and Assembly, after years of a split Legislature where Republicans controlled the upper chamber, Cuomo reiterated many of the proposals that he has repeatedly advanced in vain in

    ...
  • 35 Questions for New York Politics in 2019

    Cuomo de Blasio Amazon

    Cuomo & de Blasio celebrate Amazon to NY (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    1. Will Kirsten Gillibrand and/or Michael Bloomberg run for President?

    2. Will Andrew Cuomo explore a presidential run?

    3. How will Chuck Schumer perform as Senate minority leader amid a new power dynamic in Washington? What impact will Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have as she officially takes office and the year progresses? What other New York representatives will make significant impact in the new Washington, especially given

    ...
  • Agenda 2019: City & State Budgets on Mostly Solid Ground, with Major Questions Looming

    Cuomo budget presentation

    Gov. Cuomo (photo: The Governor's Office)


    This is part of AGENDA 2019, a joint Gotham Gazette-City Limits project
    Find the rest of the series here

    New York’s economy has seen several rosy years in the decade since the Great Recession, with a run of steady growth, increasing

    ...
  • Cuomo Reelected, Democrats Take the State Senate; 2018 General Election Results in New York

    and cuomo nov

    Gov. Cuomo votes (photo: @andrewcuomo)


    Democrats will take full control of New York state government in 2019 thanks to the reelection of Governor Andrew Cuomo and other candidates for statewide office, as well as wins in the state Senate that flipped control of the upper chamber. Democrats continue to hold a wide majority in the state Assembly. With help from New York, Democrats also flipped the U.S. House of Representatives.

    The state Senate and ...

  • 10 Things to Watch on Election Day in New York

    Cuomo voting New York

    (photo: The Governor's Office)


    New Yorkers will head to the polls on Tuesday, November 6, to vote for federal and state candidates in an election that could radically alter the direction of the state and the entire nation. Every seat in the state Legislature is on the ballot, as are the joint ticket of governor-lieutenant governor, the positions of state comptroller and attorney general, New York’s 27 seats in the House of Representatives, and one U.S. Senate position.

    Democrats, hoping to ride a surge of engagement in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s

    ...
  • WATCH: State Comptroller Candidate Debate

     img 6200 2

    Candidates DiNapoli, Dunlea, Gallaudet, Trichter (l-r) (Photo: MNN)


    Watch the first debate in the general election race for New York State Comptroller, among the four candidates who will be on the ballot: incumbent Democrat Tom DiNapoli, Republican nominee Jonathan Trichter, Green Party nominee Mark Dunlea, and Libertarian Party nominee Cruger Gallaudet. DiNapoli will also appear on the Reform, Independence, Women's Equality and Working Families Party ballot lines on the November 6 ballot, while Trichter also has the Conservative Party line.

    The debate, embedded below,

    ...
  • Comptroller Candidates Debate Powers and Responsibilities of State's Top Fiscal Officer

    comptroller fall

    Candidates DiNapoli, Dunlea, Gallaudet, Trichter (l-r) during their first debate


    New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a Democrat running for reelection as the state’s top fiscal officer, faced his three challengers on Tuesday in the first debate of the general election, hosted by Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

    The four candidates offered their views on the powers and role of the state comptroller, charged with managing the state’s $207 billion public pension fund, overseeing state and local spending, auditing state contracts and the finances of

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Jonathan Trichter, Republican nominee for Comptroller

    mxm logo

    Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits


    October 03, 2018 - Jonathan Trichter, Republican nominee for Comptroller

    john trichter 400

    Jonathan Trichter, the Republican candidate for state comptroller, joined the show to discuss his candidacy, including his critiques of incumbent Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and his plans for doing things differently if

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    mxm logo

    Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits


    October 03, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

    tom dinapoli 130Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, a Democrat who has held the office for roughly ten years, joined the show to discuss his case for reelection.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter ...

  • The 2018 Elections in New York

    Andrew Cuomo voting

    Gov. Cuomo votes (photo via The Governor's Office)


    In 2018, New York will be home to elections for statewide seats including Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller, as well as one of its two United States Senate seats. In all five positions but Attorney General, incumbent Democrats are seeking reelection. In three -- Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General -- there are competitive primaries that will be decided Thursday September 13.

    New York is also home this year to elections for all of its 27 seats

    ...
  • Too Much Debt, Not Enough Savings: State Finances on Rocky Ground Comptroller Says

    Tom DiNapoli Comptroller Bronx

    Comptroller DiNapoli (photo: @NYSComptroller)


    For New York’s fiscal picture, “Trump’s policies are as great a concern as the economic cycle,” according to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who spoke at length recently about the state’s finances and economy, which are precarious for a number of reasons.

    During a 30-minute interview with Gotham Gazette Executive Editor Ben Max for a special on Manhattan Neighborhood Network that aired Sunday, DiNapoli discussed

    ...
  • Statewide Candidates File July Fundraising Numbers

    Cuomo check

    Gov. Cuomo at a funding event (photo: The Governor's Office)


    With less than two months till the September 13 primary election, candidates running for state office filed campaign financial disclosure reports with the New York State Board of Elections by the Monday deadline, showing fundraising and expenditures from a six-month period between January 16 and July 16.

    Governor Andrew Cuomo, the two-term incumbent Democrat who is running for reelection, continues to maintain an overwhelming funding advantage with more than $31 million in his campaign coffers. Cuomo

    ...