State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli proposed a number of budget reforms today to fix New York’s budget problems by requiring state officials to address out-year budget gaps, reach a multi-year budget balance, align spending with the resources available, limit debt and prohibit using “fiscal gimmicks.” The proposal would require statutory changes, constitutional amendments and controls contained in bond covenants.

   “New York state has been addicted to unaffordable borrowing and unsustainable spending. Now is the time to break that addiction. These reforms are first steps, some of which we can take right now, that will start us on the road to recovery,” DiNapoli said in a statement.

   “It won’t be easy, but it is absolutely necessary. We’ve already delayed too long. The last thing New Yorkers need is a replay of last year’s buy-time budget. We need to get the budget in balance and keep it in balance,” he added.

   DiNapoli’s plan would:

  —Require the governor to address out-year budget gaps and how to close them as part of the state’s financial plan.

  —Expand the revenue forecast requirements to include all revenues and resources available for spending to provide a more accurate picture of available resources, and set a binding framework for the budget. If the governor and Legislature couldn’t reach an agreement, the comptroller’s revenue forecast would be binding.

  —Increase state reserves by requiring that half of any surplus go to a rainy day fund until it reaches the maximum level of 5 percent of general fund spending. The current cap is 2 percent of general fund spending.

  —Restrict the use of one-time revenues to pay for ongoing expenses. 

  —Require that negotiations on the budget be public. Joint legislative conference committees rarely meet and there is no requirement for public discussions.

  —Set up a council that would look at a 20-year period and identify critical construction needs and develop a five-year capital plan. Each agency has its own capital-plan process currently, but they rarely are for longer than five years.

  —Introduce a constitutional amendment to ban back-door borrowing by public authorities, restore voter control over debt, require that state debt is issued by the comptroller, impose a binding cap on state debt, and prohibit issuing debt for non-capital purposes. More than 94 percent of current state-funded debt was not approved by voters. 

  —Require the governor’s administration to report three years of detailed spending, including more detailed cash-flow projections and spending for new programs.