For the third year in a row, New York state has agreed to an on-time budget, though a business group gives it a mixed review.
On March 21, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced the budget agreement. Highlights include a $350 tax credit for middle class families and increasing the minimum wage to $9 an hour.
This is the earliest budget agreement since 1976 and the first time New York has passed three on-time budgets since 1984.
“This budget symbolizes the tremendous progress that has been made in Albany and demonstrates that the new New York government is once again working for the state,” Cuomo said in a statement.
As part of the budget, families with incomes between $40,000 and $300,000 will be eligible to receive a new child tax credit of $350 per year for three years, beginning in 2014. The budget also offers businesses tax credits if they hire veterans and youth.
The Business Council of New York State praised the budget for increasing spending by less than 2 percent, but claims that the budget adds to the cost of doing business.
“The budget is not consistent with a strategy to promote economic growth and the creation of good paying jobs,” Heather Bricetti, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State, said in a statement.
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