Philip Fields currently serves as secretary of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee after being appointed by New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Fields has served with the New York Assembly in various capacities for over three decades, serving as budget director, deputy fiscal director, and senior transportation analyst for the Ways and Means Committee. Before his time at the Assembly, he worked as an analyst for the Real Property Taxation Committee and the Committee on Corporation, Authorities, and Commissions.

Fields serves as a member of various boards, including the New York State Deferred Compensation Board, Broadview Federal Credit Union, Capital Region Youth Tennis Foundation, Schenectady County Historical Society, and various organizations, community, and cultural groups. He also serves as chair of the Broadview Federal Credit Union Supervisory Committee.

Fields is elected to the Schenectady County Legislature and serves as deputy chair of the Legislature, chairing both the Rules Committee and Ways and Means Committee.

Fields earned his bachelor’s and master’s in economics from the State University of New York’s University at Albany.

David Friedfel is in his fourth year as the majority secretary of the Senate Finance Committee. He began his career in state government with the Assembly Ways and Means Committee Majority, rising to the position of deputy fiscal director. Friedfel then went on to serve as the commissioner of Management and Budget for Albany County. Immediately before he was appointed finance secretary, he served as the director of state studies at the nonprofit nonpartisan civic group, the Citizens Budget Commission. An avid Mets fan, he resides in Delmar, New York, with his wife and two children.

Blake G. Washington is the budget director for the State of New York, appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul. Washington is responsible for developing and managing the New York State budget, leading a team of public servants to administer the fiscal duties of the state, including economic and revenue forecasting, tax policy, fiscal planning, capital financing, and management of the State’s debt portfolio.

Washington was employed by the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee for over 20 years, culminating in his service as secretary to the committee from 2015 through 2023. In that role, Washington advised the Assembly Speaker and the Assembly Majority on all budget and fiscal matters and served as the Assembly’s lead negotiator on the New York State budget. He began his career in public service as a probation officer in Sullivan County, New York.

Washington earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from State University of New York’s University at Albany. He lives in the Capital Region with his wife and daughter.

Robert Megna is president of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. He previously served as senior vice chancellor and chief operating officer of SUNY System Administration. In that role, he oversaw the operations of the chief information officer, the State University of New York (SUNY) Plaza business functions, capital facilities, campus energy management, and the Charter School Institute. He joined SUNY System Administration from Stony Brook University, where he served as senior vice president for finance and administration. Prior to joining Stony Brook, he served as executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority and New York State Canal Corporation.

Megna served as budget director for the New York State Division of the Budget (DOB), during which time the state achieved its highest financial rating in 40 years from three major credit rating agencies and passed four on-time budgets for the first time since the 1970s. He also chaired multiple governmental boards, including the Financial Restructuring Board, the New York Racing Association, and the Public Authorities Control Board. Megna has also served as commissioner for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, director of the revenue and economics unit at DOB, assistant commissioner of the office of tax policy at the Virginia Department of Taxation, director of tax studies at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, and deputy director of fiscal studies on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Megna earned an MS in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London and received both his BA in Economics and MPA from Fordham University.