As the dust from the Cuomo administration’s implosion settles, budget director Robert Mujica is one of the last men standing.
But Mujica rejected claims that officials concealed the delay, telling POLITICO at the time “there was nothing hidden about it, we disclosed it in our financial plan documents.”
“Even if we had a different budget director, an awful lot of the staff would all still be the same. And ultimately they take their direction from the governor. And at least under the current governor, that's a very good thing.” So, the way Megna sees it, a budget director is part of the executive chamber culture in that any initiative that requires money will flow through them. He might opine on policy if asked but “the budget directors that do best are the ones that don't pretend to be politicians,” he said.
“There’s no way to know,” if this year’s budget process will look much different, said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “Especially with this new huge variable: the state just has so much money,”