Hochul nixes 29 task forces, commissions, reports

For the third year in a row, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed bills that would authorize various task forces, commissions, and reports, citing a lack of funding in the state budget for the initiatives.

While the governor has broad latitude over state spending during the fiscal year, most notably finding tens of millions of dollars earlier this year to cover unexpected transit costs, Hochul wrote in her veto message that the state had not accounted for the estimated $24 million it would cost to implement the 29 bills she vetoed. As with her previous vetoes, she argued that these items should be addressed in the context of the budget.

This philosophy did not stop the governor from approving standalone bills authorizing the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council or the State Community Commission on Reparations, which have years of work ahead of them. Hochul’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for an explanation about the apparent conflict in logic.

The vetoed proposals included the establishment of the rural suicide prevention council and state grid modernization commission and conducting reports on the ecological restoration needs of Jamaica Bay and the environmental radiation surveillance program.

Many of these vetoed bills passed overwhelmingly – if not unanimously – in the state legislature, suggesting they would have the necessary votes to override the governor’s objections and enact the bills into law. It is unlikely the Democratic majorities in the state legislature will do this, as a veto override has not been attempted in any shape or fashion during one-party rule in Albany over the past six years.