ALBANY — A cascade of press statements from lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo in recent days has heaped praise on New York’s newly minted state budget, hailing it as a fiscally responsible plan designed to improve public education and make public colleges “free” for some.

But not everyone is chirping with delight over the $153 billion spending blueprint.

After a string of state economic development projects were mired in bid-rigging and bribery scandals last year, some saw the budget-making process as an opportunity to have greater oversight by the office of state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli of contract awards.

That didn’t happen, and DiNapoli, who like Cuomo is a Democrat, voiced disappointment after his proposed reforms ended up on the cutting room floor.

“The budget does not include needed reforms to the state’s procurement practices to better ensure spending accountability and transparency,” he said.

Not only was this year’s spending plan tardy for the first time since 2010, the comptroller added, but it was also rushed through in a way that “provided no opportunity for public review of the details.”

Cuomo said several times in recent weeks that budget negotiations were complicated by uncertainty over impacts to New York from potential shifts in federal fiscal policy.

At a bill-signing event in Syracuse this week he said of the budget: “It was harder to birth, but it was a beautiful baby once we actually got it done.”

He also painted himself as a champion of the upstate region. “I’m very proud to be able to say to you that I am the governor who has invested more in upstate New York than any governor in the history of the state of New York,” Cuomo said.

Another ingredient of the budget — an extension of the state’s incentive program for the film industry — got mixed reviews. It received two thumbs up from Chris Dodd, the lobbyist for Hollywood production companies.

But the president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, E.J. McMahon, branded it “a huge giveaway to a highly profitable industry that is hardly likely to abandon New York if no longer paid by taxpayers.”

The film incentives had been set to expire in 2019, but the budget extended the program for three more years, at a cost of more than $1.2 billion.

Another special interest that benefited from the budget deal was organized labor. The head of the New York AFL-CIO, Mario Cilento, praised a measure that will provide union members with an estimated $35 million by making it easier for them to deduct union dues on their state taxes.

McMahon saw things differently, ripping the measure on his blog as a “gratuity for an already privileged caste of (mostly government) workers.”

The budget also included a Cuomo-promoted initiative that compels thousands of New York towns to work with county governments to find ways to share services, a plan that the governor contends will help curb rising property taxes.

The Association of Towns argued the plan did not belong in the budget and should have had more public review.

“What we have is a redundant and confusing tax savings plan, which takes a top-down approach that places too much authority with the county executive and ignores the proven ability of New York local governments to collaborate and share services for the benefit of New York taxpayers and municipalities,” the association said in a statement.

But Cuomo, speaking in Syracuse, argued the push for shared services has the potential to “make a dramatic, dramatic difference.”

“Upstate New York has the highest property taxes in the United States of America,” said Cuomo, who won his first term as governor in 2010. “You bring the power of democracy to this discussion and you’ll see how local governments can actually find ways to save money and get creative.”

Among those chilly to the consolidation plan is William Cherry, the president of the state Association of Counties and also the Schoharie County treasurer.

He said it might make “a very small difference” in property taxes, but argued that far better relief would come through having the state pick up the costs of Medicaid, a state-mandated program that is one of the costliest elements of county budgets.

Meanwhile, the press releases dealing with the finalized budget make no mention that the legislation removed a requirement that companies getting assistance from Cuomo’s Start Up NY program report how many jobs they have created as a result of their participation.

Newsday, in reporting on the change, on Friday, quoted a Cuomo administration official as saying the omission of the reporting requirement was “inadvertent.”

Joe Mahoney covers the New York Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jmahoney@cnhi.com