ABO Leadership
Joshua Norkin
Director of Authorities Budget Office
Joshua Norkin was nominated by Governor Hochul and confirmed by the New York State Senate on June 9, 2025, to serve as the third Director of the Authorities Budget Office. Prior to his confirmation, Joshua served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Counsel to Governor Hochul for policy and legislation. Joshua played a critical role in managing the Governor’s negotiations with the Legislature for three legislative sessions and budget cycles.
Promoted to Deputy Counsel in 2022, Joshua managed staff as they drafted legislation for the Governor, developed the Governor’s State of the State proposals and Executive Budget, and advised the Governor on the several hundred bills passed each year by the Legislature. In his role, he also provided counsel to the Governor on legal risks and litigation across New York’s executive agencies.
Joshua served as Assistant Counsel to the Governor for Civil Rights and Housing from 2019-2022, where he worked closely with the New York State Board of Elections and oversaw state agencies such as the Division of Housing and Community Renewal and the Division of Human Rights. In this role, he worked on legislation expanding labor safeguards for workers, promoting housing development and increasing tenant rights, legalizing adult-use cannabis, reforming New York’s election laws, and building protections for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. Joshua also oversaw the Governor’s clemency program and helped create the Governor’s Clemency Advisory Panel.
Prior to joining the Governor’s Office, Joshua practiced law in both the nonprofit and private sectors. He spent nearly eight years at the Legal Aid Society in New York City, working in various roles as a public defender in the Bronx trial office, an appellate attorney and as an attorney in the Special Litigation Unit where he led an effective campaign to reform New York’s bail laws. A successful trial attorney, Joshua began his legal career by organizing the defense of protesters illegally arrested at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Joshua earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2008 and graduated from SUNY Albany in 2003. He was born and raised in Somers, New York.