Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York state”™s Budget Director Robert Mujica Jr. yesterday proposed New York”™s $216 billion state budget for Fiscal Year 2023.
Highlights of the budget include a tax relief program that targets Covid-related expenses for small businesses, an acceleration to the phase-in of the lowering of middle-class income tax rates, a $2 billion tax rebate program for low- and middle-income homeowners, $10 billion to rebuild the state”™s health care system and workforce and a $2 billion increase for school aid.
nfrastructure updates include a new $32 billion Department of Transportation capital plan over the next five years, $500 million for promoting wind power, $500 million for clean water infrastructure and $1.6 billion to provide affordable broadband access across the state.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer praised Hochul”™s leadership in the budget proposal, particularly for its $900 million in child care stabilization grants, which will cover operational costs for 15,000 child care providers statewide and which Latimer described as urgently needed, and transportation and road improvements. Latimer also recognized the importance of the $4 billion to be invested as part of the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, along with the funding set aside for offshore wind infrastructure.
The Business Council of Westchester (BCW) also expressed its approval for aspects of the budget, including the authorization for the state to provide up to three additional casino licenses statewide, including the Downstate region.
“A full-gaming license for Empire City has been the Business Council of Westchester’s top legislative priority for the last four years and in recent months, we have consistently urged the governor and legislature to get this done this year,” said BCW Executive Vice President John Ravitz. “This is a crucial step for the long-term economic health of both Westchester and the Bronx, and we will carefully monitor the progress in getting these licenses approved.”
Along with approval for funding toward the health care system, tax relief, transportation and child care, the BCW also voiced support for the governor”™s $1.5 billion proposal to expand SUNY and CUNY teaching staff and the $1 billion set aside for the state”™s Regional Economic Development Councils and community revitalization projects.
The BCW voiced its disappointment, however, that the budget did not include any regulatory reform measures, a key advocacy area for the group, to combat what it describes as overly aggressive enforcement of newly enacted government regulations, especially for small businesses with fewer resources to ensure compliance.
“We will continue to urge the governor and the legislature to look at the BCW”™s regulatory reform recommendations and include them in the budget,” Ravitz said.
The budget also included a new five-year, $25 billion comprehensive housing plan to create and preserve 100,000 affordable homes and electrify another 50,000, for which the “Welcome Home Westchester” campaign voiced its approval, saying that housing is much-needed across the state.
The campaign is overseen by the Building and Realty Institute and combines the input of building and development companies with economic leaders like the Westchester County Association and Nonprofit Westchester, academic leaders studying housing and community organizations focused on housing, homelessness and assistance.
“(It) could very well be a game-changer for high-cost, high-tax communities within Westchester. We encourage the Governor, the legislature, and local leaders to also take a strong look at the regulatory and local land use barriers that still hamper building the housing we need,” said Timothy Foley, CEO and Executive Vice President of the Building and Realty Institute on behalf of the Welcome Home Westchester campaign. “That will ensure that Westchester’s working families benefit from this level of investment, rather than see it flow to communities where it is easier to build accessory dwelling units, transit-oriented development, and other ways of filling our housing shortage.”
