New York state budget passes

The New York State Legislature passed a $142 billion budget early Wednesday morning, hours after the midnight deadline Tuesday night.

The agreement includes investment in upstate revitalization, statewide broadband access improvements, ethics reform initiatives and pumping money into two of the state”™s farm regions.

Under the budget, seven areas in New York, including the mid-Hudson region, can compete for one of three $500 million awards that will fund economic development initiatives. The spending plan also includes $150 million to fund regional priority projects and $70 million in state tax credits for the fifth round of the Regional Economic Development Council awards.

The $500 million broadband initiative Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has campaigned for the last several weeks also passed, and looks to extend high-speed Internet access to all New York regions by 2018. The program aims to incentivize providers in the private sector to expand service to underserved communities like Sullivan and Ulster counties, both of which have population majorities without broadband access.

Ethics reform was a focus on the budget in light of Democrat Sheldon Silver”™s ouster as Assembly speaker when allegations arose that he masked $4 million in payoffs as outside legal work. One part of the new ethics rules requires lawmakers to be more transparent in their income from outside jobs.

A $50 million expansion package was also passed for two state regions, the Southern Tier and Hudson Valley, in an initiative to help maintain and protect farmland as well as support agriculture businesses.