Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders Tuesday announced a deal on the state’s back budget, which includes about $ 4 billion in new taxes, legal sports betting and unemployment benefits for illegal immigrants.
The $ 212 billion spending plan, which expired on April 1, eclipses last year’s $ 194 billion price tag due to economic losses from the coronavirus crisis.
“New York was ambushed early and hit hardest by COVID. It devastated our economy and required urgent and unprecedented emergency spending to contain the pandemic,” said Cuomo.
“Thanks to the state’s strong fiscal governance and relentless drive to get the federal support that the pandemic demanded, we have not only balanced our budget, but are also making historic investments to reinvent New York. build and renew in the wake of the worst health and economic crisis in a century. “
Lawmakers began voting on bills in the Senate and State Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, and the process is expected to continue Wednesday evening as the remaining three of the ten budget bills are due to be printed.
“We had understood that all budget accounts agreed in three ways may still be in some level of process, but we will be ready to go on the floor, probably with the need for messages,” said Liz Krueger, Senate President Finance said on the floor of the Senate during the debate.
Cuomo and state lawmakers hit heads at major budget posts, including the tax hike that will impose a roughly 1 percent increase on New Yorkers earning more than $ 1 million a year and set new tax brackets for the state’s highest earners.
The state franchise tax will also increase from 6.5 percent to 7.25 percent over three years, although the rate will remain the same for businesses making less than $ 5 million.
“This is not a tax increase for the vast majority of New Yorkers,” Krueger said during the debate. “It’s a relatively small one, about 50,000 taxpayers who are on the richest side of the scale, even during a pandemic and economic meltdown.”
But others, including two New York City mayoral candidates, say the tax increases will cause an exodus of much-needed income from the city as residents and businesses seek greener pastures in less taxing states and cities.
Another bottleneck has been the Excluded Workers Fund, which will set aside $ 2.1 billion in unemployment benefits for undocumented workers who would otherwise be ineligible for federal funds. The hot-button issue led to a deadlock between progressive New York City Democrats and moderate Democrats from upstate and suburban districts.
The parties have also agreed to legalize mobile sports betting – which lawmakers say will increase revenues by $ 99 million this fiscal year and then by as much as $ 500 million by 2025-26.
This year’s budget also accounts for $ 2.4 billion in rental emergency aid and will provide a $ 1.4 billion annual boost to public schools across the state over the next three years. About $ 105 million will be spent to expand universal pre-K to the 210 districts that do not yet have the program.
Also included is nursing home reform – those facilities will now have to spend at least 70 percent of their revenues on patient care and 40 percent on resident staff. And $ 64 million will be spent on increasing the workforce.