Weekly E-Mail Blast

My colleagues and I in the New York State Assembly voted on several, significant pieces of the state budget that provide for more aid to our schools and institutions of higher education; business tax credits, aid to our state’s health services; and increases the minimum wage.

Omnibus budget bills are a mix of trade-offs and hard fought compromises to provide vital services, while keeping taxes in line to protect low-income and middle class families.

I’ve highlighted a few budget areas that may be of interest:

Education

One of the more crucial areas of the budget that has been a top priority for me has been restoring education cuts from four years ago. The final budget increases school aid by $436 million over the executive’s budget proposal, or a $936.6 million increase over last year.

Minimum Wage

Recognizing that families who live on or close to minimum wage are facing more and more financial challenges, I’m proud to have supported increasing our state’s minimum wage to $9.00 per hour by 2016 that will provide increased purchasing power for low-income residents. While the full increase will take longer and not include indexing, it remains a significant and necessary increase.

Here’s the increase schedule over the next three years:

  • From $7.25 to $8.00 per hour on Dec. 31, 2013
  • From $8.00 to $8.75 per hour on Dec. 31, 2014
  • From $8.75 to $9.00 per hour on Dec. 31, 2015

Support for OPWDD

One of the most troubling parts of the budget is in regard to the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). I opposed the Governor's cuts and supported the Assembly's proposal to fully restore these funds, however, the final agreement included a $30 million cut. I strongly oppose these cuts, as they affect our most vulnerable citizens who need assistance, especially from our agencies and non-profit providers.

There is, however, $590 million in additional federal, Medicaid funding available over the next two years, and although it cannot be used for existing services, it is expected to be used to support new and expanded services to serve individuals with developmental disabilities.

Tax Relief

Included in the budget is a Family Tax Credit to provide a $350 tax rebate in October 2014 to families earning $40,000 to $300,000 for a total cost to taxpayers of $410 million. While I support the need to provide tax relief to middle-income earners, I opposed the timing and the politicizing of this rebate – especially for high income earners at a time when we are still cutting programs and funding education at a lesser amount than the state funded schools in 2008-2009. The priority should have been on property tax relief that is so burdensome to the middle class, senior citizens, and people on fixed incomes.

The $350 tax rebate, however, was a part of a much larger revenue package I supported to increase revenue by $1.9 billion from an extension of the “Millionaire’s Tax” originally passed in December of 2011, which included an extension of a small tax cut for the middle class. The budget extends this middle-class tax cut for three additional years and pays for it by requiring those making over $2 million per year – less than one percent of all New York residents – pay their fair share.

Safe Act

Along with budget votes, the Assembly passed technical amendments to the state’s new gun violence prevention law, the SAFE Act, by suspending the ban on purchasing eight, nine, and ten-round ammunitions magazines which was to go into effect on April 15. These technical amendments clarified that active duty law enforcement officers are exempt from any of the new crimes and penalties created by the SAFE Act. In addition, the budget provides $27.7 million to the Office of Information Technology Services for an electronic gun permit database.

Supporting Families Through Human Service Programs

The budget provides for human service programs for New York families, including child-care assistance, emergency assistance for the homeless and support for unemployed workers trying to get back on their feet.

Job Creation

The budget establishes the New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund and the New York State Business Incubator and Innovation Hot Spot Support Act, which are programs designed to assist the start-up and growth of newly established business and technology companies in the state.

These are just only a handful of what’s included in the state’s new budget. For more information and details about the budget and what it means for you and your family, visit the Assembly’s website.