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New York state’s April 1 budget deadline is creating major trouble for Albany

On the last Friday of February, state officials met in Albany for their annual ritual: adopting an economic and tax-receipt forecast to use for budget negotiations the following month.

But the pols and finance geeks who assembled for this subdued and uncommonly apolitical event were missing a key piece of information.

They had no idea the United States was hours away from war — and with it, oddly enough, a rare opportunity to make Albany a little less dysfunctional.

The last four weeks have seen the destruction of Iran’s ability to threaten its neighbors and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Global financial markets are in turmoil.

Fuel prices have surged — along with the risk of inflation.

Gavin Newsom’s high-speed rail humiliation deepens… as aide admits blunder and $126B line dubbed ‘Stonehenge’

NYC business leader warns exodus is brewing over Zohran Mamdani’s tax hike crusade: ‘Exploring options’

Albany’s ‘tax the rich’ lefties dealt blow over NYC Council’s budget alternative

Yet that February forecast, known as the economic and revenue consensus, has somehow survived.

That means Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers are, by all public accounts, counting on economic growth that might not materialize — and planning to spend money that might not come in.

The state’s April 1 budget deadline has come and gone.

State government remains open because lawmakers passed a short-term spending measure, giving Hochul and legislative Democrats another........

© New York Post