The New York state Comptroller's Office says former U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan pioneered the concept of balance of payments between the federal government and states with his first report in 1977.

For the vast amount of time New York has reviewed those payments, it has been what Moynihan referred to as a “donor state.”

"New York traditionally sends a lot more in taxes than it receives in spending from the federal government," said Maria Doulis, deputy comptroller for budget and policy analysis.

Doulis said things changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with New York benefiting from programs like the American Rescue Plan and the CARES Act and actually receiving more money from Washington than it paid. 

"That assistance from the federal government really flipped everything for all states and so we had two years where all states were beneficiaries and we had no donor states," she said.

The comptroller's office released a report Monday reviewing the 2023 Fiscal Year, and found that New York was a beneficiary for the fourth-straight year. However, three states do have a negative balance in the report, and per capita, New York's $1.06 return is 26 cents below the national average.

"As this COVID money goes away, we're starting to see the typical patterns emerge," Doulis said.

According to the report, the state now ranks 42nd in benefits per person, compared to 30th two years prior. Doulis said as the federal government has already frozen some funds and is discussing cuts to programs in which the state ranks well, like Medicaid, the disparity in balance of payments may become even more significant, although it likely won't materialize in reports for a year or two. 

"It is very hard because a lot of it seems to be done administratively and not in statute,” she said. “A lot of it is being litigated so you don't have a final answer. There are cases where the administration has not complied with a federal order from a judge in any case but then eventually releases the funds so all of that makes it really difficult let alone extrapolate.”

She said in moments like right now, when federal and state relationships may be changing, it’s important to lay out numbers like the balance of payments in order to have those conversations.