While Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation roiled the political world, observers say New York State’s financial mechanisms are in place for a smooth transition of power to Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Cuomo, under siege from multiple accusations of sexual harassment, said Tuesday he would leave office in 14 days.
“Hey, this is America,” said St. John’s University law professor Anthony Sabino. “The lieutenant governor will just step in. It’s a resignation, not a coup d’etat.”
Hochul, 62 and a Buffalo native, will become the state’s first female governor. She has been lieutenant governor since 2015 and before that represented Western New York’s 26th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Previously, she had been Erie County Clerk.
Before that, she worked for 14 years as a Hamburg town councilmember. She began her career working at a law firm in Washington, D.C., and then served as legal counsel and legislative assistant to Congressman John LaFalce and later Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She has a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a law degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Hochul has not been part of Cuomo’s inner circle. Nonetheless, for the past five years she has crisscrossed the state weekly, meeting with local government leaders, agency officials and local school board members.
“Surely, the governor is the state’s chief executive. But he is not the pivot upon which the finances of New York State turn,” Sabino said. “New York has a very capable comptroller of many years in Thomas DiNapoli, whose experience and stability effectively counterbalances the headlines of the last few days.
“Also, it is the state legislature that largely drives the budget. And New York is notorious for that melodrama, which remains unchanged no matter who sits in the executive mansion,” he said.
Cuomo, the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo, has been reeling since a report by state Attorney General Letitia James last week accused him of sexually harassing multiple women. His supporters, a number that dwindled over time, accused James of wielding a political agenda with her own eye on the governor’s office.
The seat is now open in next year’s election.
One open question is whether state lawmakers will continue impeachment proceedings so Cuomo won’t run again.
“The governor has done the right thing,” DiNapoli said Tuesday. “New York is facing many challenges as we battle the ongoing impact of COVID-19.”
Hochul will have a lot on her plate as the budget process for fiscal 2023 begins, according to Anthony Figliola, a vice president at Empire Government Strategies.
“One issue she will have to contend with are the tens of billions in bonds that she worked to secure for upstate economic development projects, which did not have the impact she and Cuomo had hoped for,” Figliola said.
Cuomo’s weakened political standing showed with this year’s budget maneuvering, said Joseph Krist, publisher of Muni Credit News. “It was clear that the governor was not driving the process,” he said. “And the state survived the Spitzer resignation.”
Democrat Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008, less than two years into his tenure, amid a prostitution scandal.
“The real issue for me is not the next year under Gov. Hochul but what happens after Jan.1, 2023,” Krist added. “Do we get a highly ideological governor or do we get more of what we have now? In the end, the bigger issue has to do with the recovery from COVID and the need to generate major funding for transit and housing.”
Another interesting dynamic, Krist said, is the relationship between Albany and New York City, which was highly strained with Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
While the governorship will be up for grabs, the city will have a first-year mayor, with Democrat Eric Adams a heavy favorite to defeat Republican Curtis Sliwa in November.
Lastly, Cuomo's resignation came amid turmoil at the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, one of the largest municipal issuers with roughly $50 billion in debt.
Cuomo tried to change the structure of the MTA's management, but ran into stiff resistance in the state Legislature.
“I hope that, going forward, the MTA will be given the leeway it needs to deliver New Yorkers the modern, fully accessible transit system that Fast Forward promised,” former NYC Transit Authority President Andy Byford told The City news outlet. “And that can now definitely become a reality.”
Chip Barnett contributed to this report.
