 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 28, 2026 Contact: Team Saritha Email: Press@SarithaForNewYork.comKOMATIREDDY: NEW YORKERS ARE PAYING MORE FOR AN AG OFFICE THAT DELIVERS LESS — AND ALBANY JUST REWARDED IT “More Money. Less Work. No Accountability.That Is the Letitia James Budget.”NEW YORK – Crime-fighting New York State attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy, who will professionalize the office of attorney general to protect New Yorkers from crime, homelessness, and fraud, today condemned the 2026–27 state budget, charging that the Office of the Attorney General has systematically failed New Yorkers, delivering less enforcement, more waste, and no answers on how public money has already been spent. The AG’s Office is Rewarded With More Money For Poor Performance: The 2026–27 budget allocates $413.1 million to the Office of the Attorney General, an increase of $149.3 million, or approximately 57 percent, over Ms. James’s tenure. (When James took office in January 2019, the Office of the Attorney General carried an All Funds appropriation of $263.8 million.) Meanwhile, crime across New York State has increased 26%, drug deaths have increased 63%, and homelessness has increased 38%. Hate crimes, assaults, car thefts, burglary, and robbery have all risen under Ms. James’s watch. “The New York State Attorney General’s office exists to keep New Yorkers safe, protect taxpayers from fraud, and enforce the laws of this state,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “Under Letitia James, it has done none of those things, and Albany has just handed her more money to keep not doing them.” The AG’s Failure to Prosecute Fraud Operates as an Additional Tax on New Yorkers: Ms. James has failed to prosecute Medicaid Fraud effectively, doing one-tenth of the fraud enforcement work of her Democratic predecessors. For years, the AG’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit recovered hundreds of millions of dollars per year. For example, in 2009, the office recovered $283 million. In 2013, the office recovered $335 million. It also routinely obtained more than 100 criminal convictions per year. Under Ms. James, Medicaid fraud recoveries and prosecutions have collapsed, hitting all-time lows of $19 million in a year and eight criminal convictions in a year. New York runs half as many investigations as California, Texas, and Ohio despite having more staff. By one analysis, New York completed just eight investigations per billion dollars spent on Medicaid, the third-lowest rate in the nation and 63 percent below the national average. “New Yorkers should not be required to pay more in taxes while our attorney general fails to take basic steps to safeguard that taxpayer money. If the attorney general properly prosecuted fraud, we could recover billions of dollars for the state, use that money to fund our budget, and reduce the tax burden on New Yorkers instead of increase it.” Opioid Settlement Funds Continue to Be Squandered: The 2026–27 budget continues to squander the $3 billion that New York received in opioid settlement money, with lawmakers amending the budget in recent weeks to give away even more of the funds — an additional half a million dollars — with no oversight or accountability. Komatireddy has pledged to freeze the $3 billion litigation windfall on Day 1 as attorney general and use it to provide free residential treatment to every New Yorker who needs it. The $10 Million Legal Defense Fund Continues: The 2026–27 budget continues to set aside $10 million in taxpayer money for Letitia James’s personal legal bills. James’s allies quietly buried the $10 million legal defense appropriation inside the state’s 2026 budget without a single public hearing on the matter. The provision purports to be general law, available to any state official subject to federal investigation. In reality, the provision was written for Letitia James specifically, by Letitia James’s political allies, signed by Letitia James’s fellow Democrat Kathy Hochul, and funded by Letitia James’s constituents, who were never informed. It has now passed as part of the state’s 2026-27 budget. Outsourcing to Outside Counsel is Rewarded: State records show the OAG has paid approximately $20 million in outside counsel contracts to private law firms — farming out work the office was funded and staffed to perform. This includes paying white-shoe firms like Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Munger Tolles & Olson millions of dollars to handle legal work personally affecting Ms. James that is otherwise handled in-house (by the attorney general’s office) for other state employees. This outsourcing has occurred despite the fact that the New York Attorney General’s office, with more than 700 assistant attorneys general, is one of the largest law firms in New York, has received a raise every year since 2019, and recently received new offices in downtown Manhattan. The new budget adds to an appropriation that has already subsidized this arrangement. “New Yorkers should be getting more for less, not less for more. But with Ms. James as attorney general, New York taxpayers are being ripped off. That ends when I’m attorney general. I’ll cut waste, prosecute fraud, reduce crime and homelessness, and put money back in taxpayers’ pockets. “To learn more about Saritha Komatireddy’s campaign for New York Attorney General, visit SarithaForNewYork.com. |
Komatireddy: New Yorkers Are Paying More for an AG Office That Delivers Less — And Albany Just Rewarded It
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