ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul’s former state budget director was hit with a laughable $5,000 fine after she admitted she schmoozed with a connected lobbyist while his client’s firm raked in an $11 million COVID contract, according to newly released documents.
Ex-Deputy Budget Director Sandra Beattie, who started work under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was wined and dined by lobbyist Michael Balboni — whom she brought in as a “volunteer consultant” for the state’s COVID-19-era Excelsior Pass.
The pass, which functioned as a health passport for New Yorkers, was outsourced and ran multiple times over cost.
Balboni – who was just named President of…
Read the full article at NYPOST.COM
