Kathy Hochul lays out first budget as NY governor

Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her first budget presentation of her tenure as governor of New York Tuesday, laying out a $216 billion map for spending on child care, education, climate change and other initiatives.

Hochul will be working with a financial surplus, a product of better-than-expected tax revenue and economic activity, and an influx of federal funding related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New York’s state government hasn’t had the luxury of a surplus in years. Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, often worked with multi-billion dollar deficits while hammering out budget deals in recent years.

A budget deal is due by April 1, with New York's fiscal year starting on July 1.

More on last year's budget: Cuomo's budget would hike taxes on wealthy if Washington doesn't pay

NY lawmakers strike budget deal in 2021: Cuomo, top lawmakers strike $212B NY budget deal. What to know.

Hochul: $31 billion on education initiatives, expanding pre-K

Hochul proposed the state’s largest investment in education, asking for $31 billion in school and foundation aid. The funding should be used to continue expanding pre-K programs and after school programs to districts across the state, she said.

“Working parents need all the support they can get,” Hochul said Tuesday.

She highlighted the need to strengthen New York’s teaching workforce and address the mental health of students fatigued and isolated by nearly two years of pandemic-related shutdowns, quarantines and remote learning.

-Sarah Taddeo

Supporting parents with over $1B for child care

Tucked in the budget, after $31 billion for schools, which Hochul called the highest level of state aid ever, Hochul turned her attention to a topic that has bedeviled working parents during remote education: child care.

The governor vowed to set aside $1.4 billion for child care, which she said would make 400,000 additional families eligible for subsidies. The budget, she said, would "invest more in child-care workers as well.”

-Peter Kramer

Hochul proposes $10B to rebuild health care

Hochul noted the executive budget also seeks to rebuild New York’s health care system, which she said “crumbled under the stress of the pandemic.”

The health care spending plan consisted of $10 billion, including $1.2 billion in bonuses for health care and front-line workers, Hochul’s office noted.

It also included $1.6 billion for infrastructure upgrades at hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities.

Some of the figures differed from what Hochul’s office reported during her State of the State address earlier this month, and state officials were expected to release further details Tuesday.

-David Robinson

Hochul's $25 billion five-year housing plan

Included in Hochul’s budget plan is a $25 billion five-year housing plan to create and preserve 100,000 affordable homes, including 10,000 units earmarked for those recovering from substance use.

The plan would encourage the construction of low-income housing units and preserving those already in existence.

It would also invest $300 million in senior housing and funding to revitalize rural rental properties, such as farm worker housing.

"While the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the homelessness crisis worse, we know there are longstanding structural inequities that need to be addressed in order to provide New Yorkers with stable, healthy homes,” Hochul said in her State of the State address on Jan. 5.

-Sarah Taddeo

Hochul proposes $2B in tax relief for New Yorkers

Gov. Hochul’s $216 billion budget would accelerate the income-tax reductions begun under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which were to be phased into over several years, with the final cut set for 2025. Accelerating the income-tax cuts will save New Yorkers $1.2 billion, but they won’t see that relief in 2022. Hochul’s plan would institute the changes in the 2023 tax year.

Hochul’s middle-class property tax rebate plan, which she announced earlier this month would provide $1 billion in property tax relief for more than 2 million New Yorkers, was doubled to $2 billion in her plan released Tuesday.

-David Wilson

Hochul doubles down on green energy in NY, proposes $500M for offshore wind

Hochul said the state will make good on a promise to invest in green energy projects like offshore wind.

“We must speed up our transition to clean energy and New York will lead the way by making a nation-leading $500 million investment in offshore wind energy,” Hochul said.

Last week, Hochul said the state’s offshore wind plan will produce 4.3 gigawatts of energy, enough to power 3 million homes across the state, while generating more than $12 billion in economic activity and nearly 7,000 jobs.

The budget also includes $4 billion for the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bonds Act.

And Hochul said the state will make “the largest-ever investment in the Environmental Protection Fund.”

-Tom Zambito

Opioid abuse a 'public health crisis' in NY, Hochul proposes $400M in addiction services

The governor pointed to gun violence and the opioid crisis as “taking far too many New Yorkers’ lives,” and proposed $400 million in funding for substance abuse and opioid addiction services.

Substance use deaths increased by 33% among New Yorkers in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring the need for further resources in communities and hospitals.

“It is something that’s destroyed the lives of too many of our loved ones,” Hochul said Tuesday. “We’re going to take this on head on.”

-Sarah Taddeo

Hochul proposes $224M for gun violence reduction

Gov. Hochul said the state is prioritizing public safety, setting aside $224 million for gun violence reduction programs and other initiatives as New York and much of the nation reel from uptick in shootings.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe on the streets, in schools, in their homes, in their communities, and during their commutes,” Hochul said in her address Tuesday. “And in too many communities, they just don’t.”

The Democratic governor’s budget proposal laid out earlier this year called for a strengthening of gun-tracing efforts and crime data. It also included additional money for violence interrupters such as the SNUG street outreach program.

From 2019 to 2020, deaths involving guns increased by nearly 80%, Hochul’s office said. Across the country, homicides were still lower than in the 1990s but still rose by nearly 30%.

-Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

This story will be updated throughout the day. Check back for what’s new.

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Kathy Hochul lays out first budget as NY governor