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Governor, State Legislature Agree on Budget Deal
Spending plan covers exluded workers, renters, schools, and more
BY MARK HALLUM
State legislative leaders
and Governor Andrew
Cuomo reached an agreement
on Tuesday afternoon
for a spending plan going into
fi scal year 2022 — but the handshake
came six days beyond the
April 1 deadline.
The budget includes $29.5 billion
in aid to schools, $29 billion in
public and private “green economy
investments,” $2.4 billion for rent
and mortgage relief, legalized mobile
sports betting, and other facets
that Cuomo believes will contribute
to a recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic as vaccinations become
the norm across the state.
“New York State approached
this year’s budget with many challenges
and the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic.” Senate Majority Leader
Andrea Stewart-Cousins said.
“Working and middle-class taxpayers
will receive the relief they desperately
need, while the wealthiest
New Yorkers will help their
neighbors. This budget makes New
York better for all. In the remaining
months of session, the Senate
Majority will continue to deliver results
that are refl ective of our progressive
values and priorities.”
Windfall from the federal government
helped aid the state in closing
budget gaps, but it was likely
the ongoing accusations of sexual
misconduct against the governor
that sent the most amount of
doubt through the minds of legislators.
Weeks ago, Stewart-Cousins
called on his resignation out of
concern that the scandals caused
a distraction to the business of
government — yet the budget deal
got done anyway, albeit nearly a
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
week late.
The state will be fueled by $111
billion in operating funds and
$212 billion in spending, which
Cuomo has framed as more of an
investment in recovery rather than
a simple budget and as such could
impact the state’s fi nancial standing
for the next decade.
“New York was ambushed early
and hit hardest by COVID, devastating
our economy and requiring
urgent and unprecedented emergency
spending to manage the
pandemic,” Cuomo said. “Thanks
to the state’s strong fi scal management
and relentless pursuit to
secure the federal support that the
pandemic demanded, we not only
balanced our budget, we are also
making historic investments to
reimagine, rebuild and renew New
York in the aftermath of the worst
health and economic crisis in a
century.”
Other aspects of the budget deal
include:
-$2.4 billion for child care
-$2.1 billion for excluded workers
-$1 billion for small business recovery
-A fi rst-in-the-nation plan to
make broadband internet affordable
Legalizing mobile sports betting
“Budgets are a statement of
values, and in my two decades of
service to the people of New York I
can’t think of a more far-reaching
and impactful budget than this,”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie
said. “It meets longstanding goals
of our Assembly Majority and addresses
the historic inequities that
have existed for too long.”
SLUG
The school aid accounts for a $3 billion
boost in funding over the year prior
as the transition from at-home learning
to in-person classes continues.
According to Mayor Bill de Blasio,
New York City schools have a
positivity rate of 0.57% and over
65,000 school employees have
been vaccinated.
“So, even with the challenge of
the variants, I think we are clearly
doing very well in the schools, and
in fact opposition gets stronger all
the time as more and more people
get vaccinated,” de Blasio said.
In his January State of the
State presentation, Cuomo expressed
the intention to build out
New York’s green infrastructure
through off-shore wind and other
environmentally sound means, a
prospect which he believed at the
time would cost $26 billion.
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