📘 JSA2026 FY2026 Commonwealth Budget – Volume II: Agency Reform & Functional Spending Plan

Prepared by the Office of Jason S. Arnold – 2026 Gubernatorial Candidate, State of New York
This volume presents a department-by-department restructuring of New York State’s executive agencies under the JSA2026 Commonwealth Budget model.

🏛️ Purpose of Volume II

Volume I restructured the financial framework. Volume II addresses the machinery of government itself. Agency bloat, budget silos, and accountability voids have made New York’s public institutions both expensive and ineffective. This volume redefines agency roles, eliminates redundancy, reallocates spending based on impact, and implements strict performance accountability standards tied to taxpayer return.

🏢 Core Restructuring Strategy

• Consolidate overlapping departments to reduce total agency count by 20%
• Launch Operation Efficiency: mandate a 10% reduction in administrative overhead over 3 years
• Reassign budget growth to front-line services over executive operations
• Eliminate zero-performance programs and contracts that fail public ROI audit
• Require annual citizen-facing performance reports from every agency

📊 Functional Reform by Category

🚑 Health & Human Services

• Cap Medicaid growth at 3% annually; mandate fraud detection thresholds and outcome-based provider evaluations
• Merge Office of Aging with Department of Health – eliminate duplication of senior services
• Consolidate DOH and Office of Mental Health program planning under unified Behavioral & Public Health Strategy Unit
• Reallocate $800M in administrative costs to crisis beds, detox programs, and mobile response teams

🏫 Education

• Freeze per-pupil funding increases for districts with declining enrollment
• Redirect 10% of SED admin budget to parent resource hotlines and IEP reform task force
• Consolidate overlapping adult education and workforce development units into a new Department of Learning & Labor
• Cut state contracts for “DEI consultants” unless tied to direct achievement outcomes

🚓 Public Safety & Criminal Justice

• Merge Department of Corrections and Division of Criminal Justice Services into Department of Justice Administration
• End automatic program renewal for nonprofit “alternatives to incarceration” without 12-month recidivism data
• Deploy surplus parole officers to new NY Shock Enforcement Zones (for high-tourism areas)
• Require all DA offices to publish annual plea bargain, bail, and violent crime disposition reports online

🏗️ Infrastructure & Transportation

• Merge State Thruway Authority, MTA Capital Unit, and DOT capital team into Unified Infrastructure Corps
• Eliminate unstarted capital projects authorized before FY2020 and not bonded
• Redirect savings to rural road maintenance, bridge upgrades, and water/sewer expansion for housing
• Create Project Performance Ratings System for state engineers and contractors tied to pay bonuses or clawbacks

🌱 Environment, Energy & Agriculture

• Merge Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and NYSERDA planning teams into Climate & Energy Bureau
• Suspend new climate grant issuances until all existing recipients are in compliance and reporting is current
• Cap consultant spending for climate task forces and require outcome-defined contracts
• Fund a new Rural Co-op Farm Infrastructure Loan Program to revive upstate agriculture zones

📡 Digital Services, Innovation & Citizen Access

• Establish NY Digital Civic Hub (per Volume I) as a cross-agency platform for all citizen service access
• Consolidate IT divisions of DOB, OSC, DOH, and DMV into a single Statewide Technology Services Authority (STSA)
• Fund 24/7 digital support line for low-income and disabled residents needing access to state benefits and portals

📉 Estimated Savings & Reallocations

• $3.7B in eliminated executive overhead and back-office duplication
• $1.9B redirected from non-performance contracts and consultant waste
• $2.6B reallocated to housing, mental health, detox, and infrastructure delivery

🔚 Conclusion from Jason S. Arnold

This is how you fix a broken system — from the inside out. Every agency, every dollar, every line of this budget is now being realigned to serve the people who fund it. The days of department bloat, political padding, and consultant inflation are over. Under JSA2026, your state government will serve you — not itself.

Volume III will detail capital infrastructure and debt service reforms.

🗽 Jason S. Arnold, Candidate for Governor
📍 https://jsa2026.com
☎️ (516) 586-0660
✉️ jaysarnold@icloud.com