Budget || Media – Citizens Union

Citizens Union’s “State Spending in the Shadows” Report Finds $2.4 Billion In Opaque Funds In Nearly 80 Lump Sum Pots In State Budget

February 29, 2016 - Legislature expected to add its own discretionary pots as it did last year when it added 30 pots totalling $300 million.

Citizens Union Finds $300 Million More in Opaque “Lump Sum Funds” Added to Enacted Budget

April 17, 2015 - $2.9 Billion in Spending is Still Unaccounted for in Spite of Broader Ethics Push.

Citizens Union Report Finds Opaque Discretionary “Lump Sum Funds” Persist in State Budget

March 19, 2015 - Proposed $2.6 Billion in spending needs greater accountability and transparency.

Reform Groups Call On Senate, Assembly To Block Passage Of Purported Campaign Finance Reforms Contained In Budget

March 31, 2014 - There has been a virtual political crime wave at the state capital – with over 30 public officials engulfed in scandal over the past eight years.

Citizens Union Statement on Proposed Changes in the State Budget

March 29, 2014 - On proposed changes in the state budget to campaign finance, election enforcement and ethics.

New Report Highlights Albany Spending In The Shadows

September 24, 2013 - “Grab Bags” of loosely defined funds invite corruption.

Citizens Union State Budget Reform Report Card: Two “I”s for Improvement, but Still Incomplete

April 11, 2012 - Report card finds mixed results in state’s implementation of 2007 budget reforms. Further reforms needed to enhance transparency, integrity, and efficiency of budget process.

Citizens Union Opposes Proposed Budget Language Allowing For Executive Transfer Of Funds Without Legislative Approval

March 23, 2012 - Calls on Governor and Legislative Leaders to Address State Government Efficiency Concerns through Separate Legislation Modeled on NYC Budget Process. Citizens Union Also Urges Three-Day Aging for Final Budget Bills.

Citizens Union Condemns State Budget Process

April 4, 2009 - A regrettably closed-door process turned the December Doomsday Executive Budget proposal into a "Happy Days are Here Again" budget in April.

Citizens Union Urges Governor And Legislature To Enact State Budget Reforms

December 15, 2008 - Good Government Group issues recommendations to increase integrity, transparency, and efficiency of state budget process as Governor presents fiscal plan. Reform needed even more if public is to support budget decisions to deal with fiscal crisis.

Archived Budget Reform Work

Despite some respectable reforms adopted in 2007, New York's budget process is still complicated, opaque and rushed. Citizens Union believes…