If New York state had a credit card, it would owe $61.9 billion. 

Not only does New York state carry more debt than every state other than California, but 97% of that debt comes from back-door borrowing, which is borrowing that voters didn’t approve. 

While the Legislature has addressed state debt in the past, lawmakers and the executive have circumvented the rules that they themselves put into place. Currently, New York has 25% more debt than it did in 2000 when debt reform was implemented.

On Tuesday, New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a report on the state’s debt burden, which included several remedies to ensure accountability to voters. 

The primary remedy proposed is the establishment of meaningful and binding debt limits through a constitutional amendment.

“The debt cap that we have, it’s statutory. And it’s basically been rendered meaningless because of the exceptions and carveouts that have happened repeatedly, including in recent budgets,” DiNapoli told Capital Tonight. 

The comptroller’s office estimates that the per capita debt burden will rise to $4,500 per person by 2026. 

DiNapoli differentiates between backdoor borrowing and borrowing that voters have approved, like the 2022 Environmental Bond Act. 

“We want to give more of the power back to voters,” DiNapoli said. “We want to end backdoor borrowing through public authorities.”

DiNapoli views the report as an opening round in what will hopefully become an on-going conversation with legislators who will ultimately have to introduce legislation to be voted on.

“We want this…to be a basis for discussion,” he said.