New York wraps budget: School aid cuts rejected, housing agreement with good cause eviction approved

Apr. 22—ALBANY — Lawmakers passed the last bills that make up the state budget on Saturday, finalizing what proved to be a nearly three-week-overdue spending plan.

The gap between April 1, when the budget was due, and April 21, when lawmakers approved it and the governor signed it into law, saw a once-in-a-generation eclipse, an earthquake that rattled the state from New York City to the north country, and a cyberattack on a backroom Capitol office that plays a quiet, but key role in publishing state legislation.

Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul signed the $237 billion budget as it came, over the course of three days and 10 bills that cover issues like housing, education spending, funding for the state courts and payroll for state lawmakers, physical and mental health care and infrastructure.

Besides allowing for the closure of up to five state prisons with 90 days of notice, a crackdown on organized retail theft, shoplifting and illegal marijuana shops, the budget also includes a one-time boost to state funding given to towns and villages, eliminates the wide variety of fiscal intermediaries for home care aging and disabled people, and prevents hospitals from charging their poorest patients for care or suing low- and middle-income people for medical debt.

The most controversial aspects of the budget deal saw a vote on Saturday in the Senate and Assembly, both of which called an extra weekend session to finish debate and votes on the spending plan before taking a two-week vacation for the rest of April and start of May.

That legislation, the education, labor and family assistance bill, was often called the "big ugly," in Albany. The last bill to be printed this and last year, it contains the most significantly controversial aspects of the state budget, including education funding for K-12 districts, a plan to address the state housing shortage, and the much-debated question of whether to give the New York City mayor more years of direct control over the NYC public school system.

On education funding, a proposal put forward by Hochul that would have adjusted the formula used to calculate how much in foundation aid is supposed to go to each district in New York was largely rejected.

Hochul wanted to remove part of education law, called "hold harmless," or "save harmless," which bars the state from giving a district less in foundation aid in one year than they did in previous years. The change would have resulted in millions in foundation aid totals being taken away from primarily rural and suburban districts, while primarily urban districts would see huge increases.

This year, the formula was changed to take a longer-term average measure of inflation to calculate aid payments. So while some districts aren't seeing quite as large of an increase as was anticipated, no district will see an outright cut in aid this year.

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute for Government, the public policy school at SUNY University at Albany, will take a year to study the foundation aid formula and provide guidance on potential changes for the next state budget year starting April 1, 2025.

On housing, lawmakers agreed to the largest one-time change in state housing policy in years, largely provides development incentives for New York City, including tax breaks for buildings with affordable units, while also allowing for larger rent increases for improvements at rent-controlled apartments in New York City.

A much-discussed "good cause eviction" deal was also included in this year's budget, but areas of New York outside New York City will have to vote to "opt in" at the city, village, town or county level before they can apply.

Under the good cause law, which went into effect immediately in the city, tenants in buildings built before 2009 will be able to fight eviction, lease non-renewal or rent hikes over a certain percentage above inflation if they have consistently paid their rent and are in good standing with their landlord.

The idea is to give tenants a protection to stay in their apartments in the face of skyrocketing property values, and to cut down on the number of tenants kicked out of their apartments so the landlord can dramatically raise rent.

It doesn't apply to luxury apartments that charge a rent 225% above the median rent for similar sized units in their area, or to small landlords that live in their building and have have fewer than 10 units. It also doesn't apply to government-approved affordable housing, forms, seasonal rentals, hotels, or assisted living facilities.

It also establishes a new cause for a landlord to evict their tenant: when the owner wants to stop renting the unit or wants to demolish the building. Landlords can seek approval to raise the rent above the good-cause cap if they can provide documentation to prove their costs have increased sufficiently to warrant the hike.

REACTIONS

As the final votes came and Hochul signed the bills into law, the advocacy groups who have made their positions known in the state capitol with protests, rallies, letters and countless meetings with lawmakers, staff and the media were in equal parts supportive and critical of the final spending agreement.

Clare Cousin, a housing advocate with the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition, a Columbia County supervisor and a progressive Democrat running to represent the 106th Assembly District, centered on Hudson, Columbia County and Kingston, Ulster County, released a statement bashing the housing deal and tenancy protections included in the state budget, which she said was the work of a "corrupt political machine," that's leaving the average New Yorker out of the equation.

"While I commend the legislature for finally reaching an agreement, I am disappointed that this budget fails to look out for working families struggling with our state's housing, affordability and climate crises," she said. "Instead of giving tenants badly needed legal protections, legislative leaders have agreed to a budget that rolls back renters' rights secured in the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. They've also gutted the Good Cause Eviction bill housing advocates have spent years fighting for, leaving New York with the weakest Good Cause measure in the country and effectively excluding upstate tenants."

She was also critical of the move to eliminate all but one financial intermediary for home health care for disabled and elderly people, and the lack of the inclusion of the New York HEAT Act, which would have deprioritized natural gas in the state's energy mix and done away with the "100 foot rule" that requires existing gas customers to pay for the expansion of the gas network within 100 feet of their property.

New York State United Teachers, the union that represents public school teachers, said they were largely supportive of the final agreement.

"This budget will support our current educators and attract new educators by continuing the process of fixing Tiers 5 and 6 in the pension system," said Melinda Person, union president. "It will boost the impact of our colleges and universities with additional funding and require a collaborative process to revitalize SUNY Downstate. It will restore the majority of proposed cuts to public school funding and importantly, will begin the process of updating the foundation aid formula to ensure every student in the state has access to a sound, basic education."

The New York Conference of Mayors, which had advocated for an increase to Aid and Incentives to Municipalities, which is state money given to towns, villages and small cities, was still reviewing the legislation when reached on Saturday, but president Barbara Van Epps said she was happy to see an increase to AIM this year, even if it was only a one-year boost of $50 million.

"We are confident that the value of this investment in our communities will be obvious and hope that this marks the beginning of a stronger and more meaningful state-local partnership moving forward," she said.

The New York Farm Bureau issued a statement expressing gratitude for important agricultural programs funded in this year's budget, including funding to expand milk storage capacity and improve sustainability on farms.

"However, we are disappointed that farmworker housing is not included in the refundable Investment Tax Credit," the statement said. "NYFB members will continue to advocate for the needs of their essential employees."

Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, R-Watertown, released a statement lauding some points of the budget and bashing others. He said he was happy to see the foundation aid funding for local schools restored to at least last year's levels, with increases for schools like South Jefferson, getting $808,804 more in foundation aid this year up 3.23%, or Indian River, getting $2.32 million more in foundation aid this year, up 4.76%.

He said he approved of the provisions to invest in pools and swim lessons, the restoration of full Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, or CHIPS funding, the definition of a "squatter" to make removal easier, and making good cause eviction measures an "opt in" vote for local governments.

He said he is fully opposed to the closure of state prisons, the allocation of $2.4 billion in state funding to help New York City manage migrants seeking asylum, the enactment of the RAPID Act which is aimed at rapidly expanding the state's energy grid to facilitate more rural renewable energy production in upstate New York, and the lack of housing investments for the north country compared to the money set aside for major cities.

In a video Saturday afternoon, Gray said he will provide more analysis in the coming weeks.

"There's a lot in the budget, and in the coming week's we'll be unpacking the budget, it takes time, there's thousands and thousands of pages," he said.

The state senator for Jefferson, Lewis, part of St. Lawrence, Oswego and Hermiker, as well as all of Fulton and Hamilton counties, Mark C. Walczyk, R-Watertown, did not vote on or debate this year's budget, as he is deployed in Kuwait as an Army Reserve soldier.

Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, said he found this budget season "very frustrating," but was pleased to deliver funding for his district that will help organizations involved in economic development, agriculture, recreation and veterans services.

"There is a lot in this budget, some good, some bad," he said. "Although there are no new taxes, I wanted to see more relief for middle income earners to help with rising costs. I voted against the closure of our correctional facilities statewide and money going to New York City to deal with the migrant crisis they are under right now. I do agree they need help, but they should be getting it from the federal government not New York state taxpayers."

Jones said he is happy to see extra money for highway and local street improvements through the CHIPS program, as well as an increase in AIM money that goes to towns and villages.

Jones said he was supportive of the measures to crack down on retail theft and to close illegal marijuana shops, as well as the move to stop school aid cuts and increase the state Tuition Assistance Program grant for in-state college students.

Sen. Daniel G. Stec, R-Queensbury, said that this year's budget exposes how the legislature's priorities are off kilter with what working class and senior New Yorkers need.

"The plan they pushed through with next-to-no time for public vetting or input will only make it more difficult for New Yorkers to afford living and working in our state," he said. "This year's budget comes in at $237 billion, an $8 billion increase from last year. Even at that bloated number, it somehow manages to shortchange our families and business on the issues that matter most."

Stec said the changes made to the state worker pension system's most recently-created tiers 5 and 6 were insufficient to repair the broken system, and said the flat school aid funding for the year will make it harder for schools to operate if they didn't get an increase this year, in light of inflation.

"Instead of providing funding to these vital programs and services, they're shelling out $2.4 billion and offering free health care to illegal immigrants," Stec said. "While our families, health care facilities, EMS services and seniors are expected to do more with less, Democrat leaders are funneling tax dollars towards a crisis they created with their own failed sanctuary city policies."