What the tentative $229B state budget announced by Gov. Hochul means for NYC

ALBANY — After a nearly month-long impasse, New York will soon have a $229 billion spending plan in place.

Gov. Hochul and legislative leaders reached a “conceptual” agreement on a budget framework that includes $1 billion to assist with the city’s migrant crisis, a free bus pilot program in the five boroughs and plenty more for the Big Apple.

“We’ve had a lot of intense conversations, but I believe that New Yorkers will be proud of this budget,” the governor said during a press briefing held Thursday at the State Capitol.

Under the plan, which won’t be approved until next week when lawmakers return to Albany to vote on the budget bills, the minimum wage in the city will increase from $15 to $17 before being tied to inflation in a few years.

Some of Hochul’s fellow Democrats decried the increase as too little to assist struggling New Yorkers who have been hardest hit by inflation and the COVID pandemic.

“We have to take the war on poverty more seriously,” said Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens). “The true cost of living in New York — and particularly within the five boroughs— simply cannot be sustained at $17 per hour.

“This agreement has effectively codified a wage that keeps working families poor,” she added.

Hochul, however, touted other investments including additional funds for child care and $134 million for schools to provide free meals with a focus on “low-income populations.”

The budget, which came together after five stopgap measures were approved to keep state workers paid through the drawn-out process, will also include an expansion of the child tax credit to include children under the age of four.

Supporters of a larger, universal tax credit called the expansion a good first step.

“At a time of a growing affordability crisis, we can’t leave New Yorkers hanging; we need to build upon this successful program that invests in our New York families,” said Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn).

While Hochul touted the final spending plan as a step toward addressing affordability issues in the state, some lamented the fact that increased taxes on the wealthy weren’t included.

“Rather than raise sustainable new revenue through taxes on profitable corporations and high earners, this budget leaves critical funding on the table that could be used to expand childcare, invest in higher education, protect tenants, and close the MTA’s operating deficit,” said Fiscal Policy Institute executive director Nathan Gusdorf.

“As a whole, this budget falls short of meeting the policy goals that would address New York’s affordability crisis,” he added.

Subway and bus riders can let out a sign of relief as the budget plan calls for additional state funds for the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transit Authority to help reduce proposed fare hikes.

Mayor Adams, likewise, will be pleased that the city will only be on the hook for $165 million in additional transit funds and not the $500 million Hochul had initially asked for.

The budget will also include a pilot program that will see five free bus routes implemented across the city, one in each borough.

After intense pushback from progressives and teachers’ unions, a deal was struck to allow 14 so-called ”zombie” charter schools to open in the five boroughs. Hochul had initially sought to allow hundreds of privately-run charters to open up in the city.

According to the governor, a deal was also reached that will see state authorities given greater power to shutter illegal and unlicensed marijuana shops that have sprouted up across the city in recent years.

New York will also become the first state in the nation to ban fossil fuel hookups for new buildings, an environmentally-friendly measure that will require all heating and cooking appliances run on electric as opposed to natural gas or propane.

A similar measure passed by the City Council in 2021 takes effect at the end of this year.

While changes to the state’s bail law sought by the governor held up negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) for weeks, a compromise was eventually reached.

Judges will have greater discretion to set bail for defendants charged with serious crimes as the deal includes the removal of a requirement that judges choose the “least restrictive” means to ensure defendants return to court.

Further changes to evidence-sharing laws sought by prosecutors in the city were ultimately dropped.

Also absent were a host of housing-related measures, including one that would have allowed for more commercial-to-residential conversions in the city as well as a controversial tax abatement for developers who include affordable units in projects.

Hochul, who had pitched a sweeping, mandate-based plan to kick start development across the state, vowed to redouble her efforts — even through the use of executive actions — to address the state’s housing crisis.

“I believe major action is required to meet the scale of this crisis,” the governor said Thursday. “The legislature saw it differently. They’re not ready to commit to the kind of transformative change I proposed.”

Advocates, meanwhile, lamented the fact that tighter tenant protections also fell off the table.

“This budget is an embarrassment and a collective failure,” Housing Justice for All campaign coordinator Cea Weaver said in a statement. “In the face of a record affordability crisis that’s driving New Yorkers out of the state in droves, our state’s leaders put their heads in the sand instead of reaching a deal to protect millions of renters and provide a pathway to housing for our state’s homeless neighbors.”