ALBANY — Gov. Hochul unveiled a $227 billion state budget proposal on Wednesday as she provided details about her plans to boost affordable housing, address public safety and keep the Empire State solvent.
The governor’s fiscal plan includes roughly $1 billion to help the city handle the migrant crisis and new revenue streams to aid the MTA as well as increases to state school aid and a proposal to raise cigarette taxes.
“Our agenda focuses on affordability, livability, safety and includes groundbreaking proposals dealing with housing, mental health, child care, public safety, and even a minimum wage increase,” Hochul said during a budget presentation at the State Capitol.
Hochul’s plan to aid the embattled MTA includes an increase in the Payroll Mobility Tax from 0.34% to 0.5% downstate.
Additionally, the governor wants the state to provide an extra $300 million and is calling on the city to pony up $500 million to keep trains and buses operating. Fare hikes are still on the table.
Down the road, Hochul is proposing using revenue from yet-to-open casinos in the New York City area to help support the MTA and avoid service cuts.
Among the governor’s proposals meant to help ease cost of living issues driving New Yorkers to other states is a provision to index the state’s minimum wage to the rate of inflation.
Hochul also proposes spending $1 billion in state funds to help New York City handle an influx of asylum seekers and partly cover their shelter costs. Budget documents make clear the governor wants to see the city, the state, and the federal government split costs evenly.
Mayor Adams said his team was still analyzing the governor’s plans. Earlier he expounded on how dire the situation is for the city’s own finances.
“This is going to impact every service New Yorkers receive, every service,” he said of the growing financial burden of the migrant crisis. “My goal is not to hurt those services that we can use to benefit our city, but everything we must look at.”
Hochul’s proposed spending plan is $5 billion more than the budget approved by lawmakers last year and includes dramatic increases to education funding, climate action and money for prosecutors and police.
While not as policy-heavy as some past budget proposals, Hochul’s blueprint includes changes to the state’s controversial bail law, setting up a potential clash with the Dem-led Legislature.
As outlined last month in her State of the State address, the governor wants to give judges greater discretion by removing the “least restrictive means” standard to ensure a defendant returns to court for serious offenses.
Hochul is also calling for a record 10% increase in school aid, which would rise to $34.5 billion next fiscal year.
She also wants to give SUNY and CUNY schools the ability to increase tuition by either 3% or an amount tied to the Higher Education Price Index, whichever is less, and wants to see $1 billion in state funds used to boost mental health treatment and care.
A cornerstone of Hochul’s plans to address affordability include is sparking the development of 800,000 new housing units statewide over the next decade.
“I believe that a safe, affordable house should not be out of reach for New Yorkers and yet it is,” the governor said. “That needs to change.”
To do so, Hochul wants to require municipalities to meet state mandates for increasing housing stock. The proposal will direct towns and cities to loosen restrictions on building homes within a half-mile radius of train and subway stops.
It also calls on suburban communities on Long Island and the Hudson Valley to expand their housing stock by 3% over three years or roll back restrictive zoning rules.
“Localities that do not meet growth targets or that fail to implement an action plan will be considered non-compliant and will be required to approve proposed housing developments that meet certain affordability criteria within a set time frame,” a briefing book provided by the governor’s office reads.
While Hochul remains committed to not increasing income taxes, she is proposing other ways of generating revenue.
One proposal would raise the state cigarette tax from $4.35 to $5.35 per pack. She also wants to prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products, not just flavored vaping products.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said he was pleased that Hochul stuck to her promise to increase rainy day reserves. However, he is concerned about the state’s high debt burden.
“New York needs to fund essential programs and services that support quality of life in our state, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of the state’s finances,” DiNapoli said.
Republican lawmakers pushed back on Hochul’s blueprint, arguing it won’t do enough to help struggling New Yorkers and adds too much in spending.
“In the midst of an unprecedented affordability crisis, the governor presented a state budget that continues to tax and spend without providing any real relief to struggling New York families and businesses,” Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) said.
“Instead of presenting solutions to make New York more affordable, this budget adds billions of dollars in new spending and imposes a new payroll tax that will hurt downstate New York businesses,” Ort said.