DiNapoli: “I’m not there to be the governor’s comptroller”

Responding to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s comments that audits of spending by programs were “dead wrong,” New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli defended his office’s work and reaffirmed his independence from the governor.

“I’m going to keep my independence. I’m not there to be the governor’s comptroller,” DiNapoli said. “I ultimately report to the people of the state. If they don’t like what I’m doing, I won’t be in office. But in the meantime, I’m going to call the shots as I see them, back my people up when they do a good job.”

DiNapoli made the comments on Monday during an episode of the Slant podcast, where he discussed a new report from his office about student loan debt in New York.

Last month, after DiNapoli questioned the effectiveness of state spending and tax breaks for economic development, Cuomo said DiNapoli was “dead wrong” and “he should educate himself in the area.” In another interview, Cuomo called some of the audits “one person’s opinion.”

State spending for Start-Up NY, which Cuomo launched in January 2014, has been widely criticized – even by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump – after an internal report found the economic development program designed to "supercharge" the state's economy, had generated only 400 jobs. A July audit from the comptroller’s office also slammed another initiative, the Excelsior Jobs Program, for poor records compliance and the lowering of job creation goals. 

On the podcast, DiNapoli said his auditors are independent civil servants and that the auditing process was fair and unbiased.

“I have confidence in the work that they do, and I stand behind it. So to suggest that the auditors did what I told them ahead of time to say – it’s just wrong,” he said.

He also suggested Cuomo feared criticism for his struggling programs.

“We shouldn’t be afraid to step back and ask the question: All the money we put into economic development, what’s working, what’s not, how could it be better?” he said. “Unfortunately, that was not well-received.”

The full interview can be found on the latest episode of the Slant podcast.

Correction: Start-Up NY was not audited, only the marketing fund which paid for the Start-Up NY ads was audited. The program also was launched in January 2014, not May 2013. While Start-Up NY does not have year-to-year benchmarks, it’s claim that it would "supercharge" the state's economy has faced criticism.