The election ballot this year includes the much-discussed Environmental Bond Act of 2022.

Initially proposed as a $3 billion measure by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019, the Environmental Bond Act was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and fears the state couldn’t afford the bond act at the time.

It has now increased to a $4.2 billion proposal. If approved, the proposal would allow the state to borrow up to $4,2 billion provide funding for capital projects for the following: restoration and flood risk reduction (at least $1.1 billion), open space land conservation and recreation (up to $650 million) climate change mitigation (up to $1.5 billion) and water quality improvement and resilient infrastructure (at least $650 million).

In theory, the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond is a good idea. Studies have shown the state needs billions of dollars to pay for its transition away from fossil fuels. And occasional bonds environmental projects are an appropriate use of state dollars.

The problem is New York state itself. The state could save itself money if state labor requirements didn’t inflate the cost of many projects, a fact the Empire Center for New York State Policy recently wrote could take up more than 10% of the bond act proceeds. There’s nothing like getting voter approval for important projects only to waste one-tenth of that money on union-related goodies and givebacks. The Empire Center also noted one other key problem with this proposal — state debt is already projected to skyrocket in the next five years. The state Division of the Budget projects outstanding state-supported debt to grow by almost 42% in the next five years, from just under $62 billion currently to almost $88 billion in fiscal year 2027. Adding to that debt doesn’t make much sense if the state and nation are about to face an economic downturn likely to impact Wall Street, which pays for much of New York’s yearly spending.

To make matters worse, we frankly don’t trust current state leadership to spend the money wisely if it is approved by voters. The state has roven it can’t track large sums of money to make sure it isn’t misused or flat-out stolen, or that lucrative contracts aren’t given freely to elected officials’ friends or campaign donors.

In our opinion, the likelihood of a recession and inability to run existing large programs effectively makes this the wrong time to add an additional $4.2 billion in debt to New York’s budget.