State Senate inquiry puts public authorities under microscope

ALBANY — A report from the state Senate’s Investigations and Government Operations Committee found New York’s sprawling system of quasi-governmental public authorities has approximately $282.1 billion in outstanding debt — an 8 percent increase since 2014.

The nine-month investigation released Monday, led by the committee's chairman, Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis, also found that New York’s reliance on public authorities was problematic due to a lack of laws that would allow state government bodies to scrutinize their financial and operational activities. Public authorities, which are primarily meant to stimulate economic development, are not subject to the same level of public scrutiny or transparency required of traditional state agencies.