Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

State Budget

State Budget

  • CUNY Releases Strategic Plan with 2030 Vision

    CUNY Chancellor, left, City Council Speaker, center, and other CUNY officials (photo: William Alatriste/NYC Council Media Unit)


    Looking ahead to next school and beyond, the City University of New York (CUNY) announced “CUNY Lifting New York,” a strategic plan that intends to transform CUNY into the nation’s foremost student-centered university system by the end of the decade. The

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  • Key State Senators Assess Failure to Reach Housing Deal, Potential Future Action

    A potential site for housing (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    For months, Governor Kathy Hochul and members of the Legislature have reiterated that housing is one of the state’s most pressing crises. However, throughout the 2023 Albany calendar — state budget season followed by the post-budget legislative session that ended earlier this month — they have struggled to agree on much beyond that. The Democratic governor just beginning her first full term in the role and the Democratic supermajorities in the two legislative houses did not agree on a package of substantial legislative action

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Senator Julia Salazar on State Housing Policy & Good Cause Eviction Negotiations

    Senator Julia Salazar, center (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)


    June 13, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Julia Salazar on State Housing Policy & Good Cause Eviction Negotiations

    State Senator Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat and democratic socialist, joined the show to discuss state housing policy negotiations, the Legislature's failure to pass a housing plan, and her ongoing push for Good Cause Eviction legislation.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh on State Negotiations & What Comes Next

    State Senator Brian Kavanagh (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    June 14, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh on State Negotiations & What Comes Next

    State Senator Brian Kavanagh, a Manhattan Democrat and chair of the Senate housing committee, joined the show to discuss the lack of a state housing policy deal during the 2023 legislative session and what comes next.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show

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  • Battery Park City Authority Gets Expanded Capacity to Fund Major Lower Manhattan Resiliency Projects

    Battery Park City (photo: @Ingfbruno via WikiCommons)


    The state budget approved last month gave the Battery Park City Authority the ability to raise an additional $1 billion in funding for resiliency projects that will protect the southern tip of Manhattan from the worsening effects of the climate crisis.

    The Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) is a state entity originally created in 1968 to develop and improve the neighborhoods on the west side of Lower Manhattan. It is responsible for maintaining and upgrading the physical landscape of the 92 acres under its purview, home to nearly 17,000

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  • Plunge in New York Tax Receipts Could Foreshadow Budget Deficit Just as Fiscal Year Begins

    Gov. Hochul talks budget (photo: office of Governor Hochul)


    Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature finished passing the 2023-2024 state budget on May 3, about a month after the April 1 start of the fiscal year. The budget includes generous increases in funding for schools, health and mental health care, the MTA, and more. The budget is, of course, intended to be balanced, but a New York State Comptroller April 2023 cash report, issued May 16, showed a major plunge in April tax receipts from the prior year, raising concerns about a developing budget deficit

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Top City & State Housing Officials on the NYS Budget Impasse & What Comes Next

    Ground-breaking (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    May 19, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Top City & State Housing Officials on the NYS Budget Impasse and What Comes Next, with Jessica Katz & RuthAnne Visnauskas

    At the annual NYSAFAH affordable housing conference in Manhattan, Max Politics host Ben Max of Gotham Gazette moderated a discussion with New York City Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz and New York State Housing Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas about the state budget failure on housing and what comes next at the state and city levels.

    Listen to the

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  • Max Politics Podcast: The Push for Housing Development in New York, with Basha Gerhards of REBNY

    Housing on the board (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    May 11, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: The Push for Housing Development in New York, with Basha Gerhards of REBNY

    Basha Gerhards, senior vice president of planning at REBNY, joined the show to discuss housing policy at the city and state levels, disappointment in the recent state budget agreement, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or

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  • Hochul Gambled On A Late Budget; Did It Pay Off?

    Gov. Hochul meets with legislative leaders (photo: @GovKathyHochul)


    The dust is beginning to settle on the $229 billion New York state budget, which was approved last week after a month of delay that saw Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature make major compromises on spending and policy measures.

    Hochul has expressed no regret for delaying the budget for the second time in two years, after she managed to convince the Legislature to support her top priority and change the state’s bail laws yet again. She won other priorities, too, but came up empty on her biggest proposal for the

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  • How Mayor Adams' Albany Agenda Fared in the New State Budget

    Mayor & Governor (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    New York State’s $229 billion budget deal for the new fiscal year has both good and bad news for New York City and Mayor Eric Adams’ Albany agenda.

    It directs additional funding for the ongoing migrant asylum-seeker crisis, provides a lifeline to the cash-strapped MTA, funds rent relief for public housing residents, extends a child tax credit, increases enforcement for illegal marijuana sales, and more. But it excluded regulatory changes and tax incentives that

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Senator Gustavo Rivera on the New State Budget

    Senator Gustavo Rivera (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)


    May 4, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Gustavo Rivera on the New State Budget

    State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat and chair of the Senate health committee, joined the show to discuss the newly-passed $229 billion state budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which began April 1.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you

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  • State Budget Includes $1 Billion Mental Health Agenda, Additional Push to Restore Psychiatric Beds

    Gov. Hochul talks mental health care (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    Governor Kathy Hochul is touting the inclusion of over $1 billion for mental health care in the new $229 billion budget deal recently struck with legislative leaders.

    "When it comes to keeping people safe, there are commonsense places we can start as well. One of them has to do with fixing our mental health system because it is broken, the rates of mental illness have been on the rise, and the pandemic only made matters far worse," Hochul said

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  • Budget Includes $39.5 Million for New State Public Campaign Finance System

     

    In the Legislature (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)


    State lawmakers this week approved Governor Kathy Hochul's proposed $39.5 million allocation to New York's new campaign finance system, including base funding for a small-dollar public match.

    The funding includes $25 million for public matching funds that will be available to participating candidates running for statewide and legislative offices beginning in 2024. It also includes the full $14.5 million sought by administrators to run the program.

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  • ‘An Unprecedented Commitment’: New State Budget Advances Several Major Climate Policies

    Gov. Hochul talks clean energy (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


    Climate activists are cheering New York’s $229 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year, which was approved Tuesday night, celebrating three major policy victories and a series of additional funding allocations. The changes, seen as monumental by supporters and critics alike, include passage of legislation that will ban gas hookups in new construction, allow the state power authority to build and own renewable energy facilities, and create a “cap and invest” system with decreasing caps on greenhouse

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  • CUNY Tuition to Remain Flat as University System Gets Funding Boost in State Budget

    At CUNY (photo: @CUNY)


    In the new state budget that was passed Tuesday night, the City University of New York, CUNY, will get significant operational and capital funding boosts while students from New York will be spared tuition increases, Assembly leadership announced on Tuesday.

    The State Legislature is approving budget bills in Albany, bringing the $229 billion state budget for the 2024 fiscal year to a conclusion, one month after it was due.

    While all final details have yet to be dissected, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced on Tuesday that the CUNY system, which has more than

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  • It Could Take Years to Restore Hospital Psychiatric Beds Statewide, Records Show

    Gov. Hochul talks health care (photo: office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    It could take years and tens of millions of dollars for upstate hospitals to restore more than 200 psychiatric beds that were shuttered in recent years, owing to major operating deficits and an industry-wide staffing shortage with no end in sight, according to records obtained by Gotham Gazette.

    The delays throw a wrench in Governor Kathy Hochul's plan to restore 1,050 psychiatric beds that had been closed or repurposed statewide during the pandemic – a

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Why Housing Policy Negotiations Fell Apart in Albany, with Cea Weaver

    Gov. Hochul (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    April 25, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Housing Policy Falls Out of the State Budget, with Cea Weaver

    Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for Housing Justice for All, joined the show to discuss state budget negotiations, the apparent demise of negotiations over housing policy, and the left-wing perspective on the issue and key components of the debate, including Good Cause Eviction, the governor's Housing Compact, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

  • How Much to Raise, How Much to Spend: Hochul and Legislature Wrangle Over Tax Rates in State Budget Negotiations

    Gov. Hochul makes a budget presentation (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    When Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her State of the State address in January, she promised to keep income taxes flat this year while identifying other revenue sources to pay for major funding needs.

    "A majority of economists are predicting a recession," she said. "And it's also one of the reasons why we will not be raising income taxes this year."

    The Legislature is now putting that promise to the test, seeking to increase taxes on the state’s highest individual and corporate earners as the legislative and

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Senator Leroy Comrie on the MTA in State Budget Negotiations

    Senator Leroy Comrie (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    April 21, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Leroy Comrie on the MTA in State Budget Negotiations

    State Senator Leroy Comrie, a Queens Democrat who chairs the Senate's committee with MTA oversight, joined the show to discuss how the MTA is factoring into state budget negotiations, plans for funding the transit authority, whether the state budget will advantage subway and bus riders, the future of Penn Station area redevelopment plans, housing and bail policy negotiations, and more.

    Listen to the

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Major Transit & Climate Issues in State Budget Negotiations, with Betsy Plum & Julie Tighe

    Electric buses are one place transit meets climate (photo: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    April 21, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Major Transit & Climate Issues in State Budget Negotiations, with Betsy Plum & Julie Tighe

    As New York state budget negotiations continue, there are major transit and climate issues being decided. Betsy Plum of Riders Alliance and Julie Tighe of League of Conservation Voters joined the show to break down the most pressing topics on transit and climate and what to watch for as a state budget deal is finalized by

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  • Major Climate and Energy Policies Being Decided in Albany State Budget Negotiations

    Gov. Hochul talks green energy (photo: Governor's Office)


    As Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislature continue to hammer out the details of the overdue $230 billion state budget, there are major climate and energy policies at stake that environmental advocates say are crucial to meeting New York’s climate goals.

    Already about three weeks late, the state budget has been held up over the governor’s insistence on further changes to the bail law and wrangling with the Legislature over her ambitious “Housing Compact”

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  • Hochul, Legislature Look to Allocate $337 Million to Fight Gun Violence; Where's It Going?

    Gov. Hochul discusses gun violence prevention funding plans (photo: Governor's Office)


    Acrimony in state budget talks over bail and discovery reform belies broad agreement between Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislature on putting more than $330 million toward combating gun violence.

    Shootings have always plagued New York's cities but became a major public focus in recent years amid a pandemic-era spike in gun violence following decades of decline. Four out of five shooting victims in New York City are Black, most of

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  • Max Politics Podcast: Breaking Down State Budget Negotiations, with Liz Benjamin & Ken Lovett

    Gov. Hochul and other state leaders (photo: Governor's Office)


    April 14, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Breaking Down State Budget Negotiations, with Liz Benjamin & Ken Lovett

    Liz Benjamin and Ken Lovett, two veteran Albany journalists now in public affairs consulting, joined the show to discuss New York state budget negotiations, the power dynamics at play in the capital, key issues being negotiated among Governor Hochul and the Legislature, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

  • CUNY Funding a Key Issue in State and City Budget Negotiations

     

    Gov. Hochul speaks at LaGuardia Community College CUNY (photo: @CUNY)


    Funding for the City University of New York, CUNY, is among a number of major focus issues as elected officials negotiate a new state budget this month and a new city budget by July.

    Lawmakers, students, faculty, and others are concerned about proposals in both Governor Kathy Hochul’s and Mayor Eric Adams’ budget proposals, which are now the source of negotiations with their respective legislatures. Though Hochul included a modest increase in overall funding for CUNY in her January executive budget, she also proposed

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  • 'It's Incumbent on the State To Do This': Lawmakers ‘Optimistic’ Housing Access Vouchers will be in Budget Deal

    A place to call home (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    As Governor Kathy Hochul tries to convince the Legislature to support her ambitious housing agenda focused on increasing the supply of homes, legislators seem unwilling to do so without including in a state budget deal major protections for current tenants including a new rental voucher program.

    The Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) would provide state-funded rental subsidy vouchers to those experiencing homelessness or facing evictions and at risk of homelessness, regardless of immigration status. The bill is sponsored by

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