Hochuls ex-budget czar schmoozed with bigwig as his client raked in $11M in state COVID contract: report

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 Adelphi University in June – would eventually be brought on as a subcontractor by consulting giant Deloitte, making over $100,000 off the state’s contract while continuing his friendship with Beattie, despite a recusal agreement preventing him from lobbying the budget office.Beattie and her significant other cozied up with Balboni and his wife for four days at their home in Florida, according to a settlement agreement between Beattie and the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government released Tuesday.During their Sunshine State getaway, the budget chief was invited to speak at an event hosted by Balboni, a former state Senator.Beattie admitted she broke state ethics laws, but will only have to pay a puny $5,000 fine, according to the settlement.“Ms.Beattie positioned a registered lobbyist, with whom she had a personal friendship and from whom she received personal favors, in a position to benefit greatly from contract work for the Office of Information Technology Services and its vendors,” the commission’s Executive Director Sanford Berland wrote in a statement.Balboni, who’s only referred to in the settlement as an anonymous lobbyist, has not been accused of wrongdoing.But commission records show his firm Red Land Strategies was drawing at least $10,000 a month as lobbyist, raking in up to $300,000 ...