2013-2014 Budget

Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Ways and Means Chair Herman D. Farrell, Jr. announced today the passage of a State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2013-2014 Budget that closes a $1.3 billion budget deficit. The $141.3 billion spending plan includes increased aid for local schools and community colleges, tax relief for working families and federal funding to help pay for the clean-up following Superstorm Sandy. The budget makes investments in our local governments and economic development as well as infrastructure and affordable housing.

The Assembly Majority has long been a champion of workers' rights, chief among them, a worker's right to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. We believe that poverty is not a fair reward for those who work a full-time job. This agreement, which will gradually raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour in 2015, is a victory for those hardworking men and women who do the jobs that are essential to our local businesses and to our ability to provide human services, but whose salaries have not kept pace with the cost of living. With this agreement, we are taking a significant step toward rewarding hard work with a wage that people can live on. New Yorkers have spoken and their government has heeded their call to raise the minimum wage.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that a $10.5 million funding increase for New York City from the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) is included in the SFY 2013-2014 Budget approved by the Assembly today, making it the third consecutive on-time budget in recent years.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced $2 million in the 2013-2014 state Budget for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust Fund.

"I join with the more than 16,000 New Yorkers with spinal cord injuries in welcoming the restoration of this research funding," said Silver. "This investment funds groundbreaking research that transforms the lives of those with spinal cord injuries."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Housing Committee Chair Keith L.T. Wright announced today that initiatives included in the 2013-2014 Budget agreement would increase affordable housing options for working families and seniors by financing $1 billion over five years. The spending plan directs $5.8 million to maintain the Tenant Protection Unit and $62 million for housing and community renewal programs.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced the passage of the SFY 2013-14 Budget, which includes $3.7 billion in funding for municipal roads and bridge projects and $159 million in additional funding to help local governments provide services and pay for infrastructure repairs and improvements.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced significant advances were made on behalf of workers in the SFY 2013-14 Budget approved by the Assembly today that will raise the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour, increase unemployment benefits for the unemployed, restructure the Unemployment Insurance Fund and safeguard injured workers.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Social Services Committee Chair Michele R. Titus, and Children and Families Committee Chair Donna Lupardo today announced more than $21 million for safety net programs and $10 million for services that support children and families in the 2013-14 state Budget agreement.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced several measures in the 2013-2014 state Budget that aid disaster prevention and recovery. They include the implementation of the Moreland Commission recommendations for state utilities, new emergency generator requirements for certain gas stations, and funding for natural infrastructure projects to mitigate the impact of violent storms and flooding due to climate change.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced the SFY 2013-14 Budget approved by the Assembly includes $9.9 million in restorations and new funding for economic development projects as well as $700 million in business tax credits to boost the state's economy.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Government Employees Committee Chair Peter Abbate, Jr. today announced $5 million in funding to provide health insurance coverage for the hundreds of former employees of New York City Off-Track Betting (NYCOTB).

As part of the Assembly Majority's ongoing commitment to assist New York's working families, Speaker Sheldon Silver and Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman D. Farrell, Jr. announced the three-year extension of the fair tax reform plan which will generate $2 billion in revenue. The SFY 2013-2014 Budget will also preserve tax-relief measures for middle-income families. The plan was first implemented in 2012 to restore equity and fairness to the personal income tax code, the first major restructuring of the tax code in decades. This funding is an essential component of the state budget agreement which limits the spending plan to two percent growth and closes a $1.3 billion deficit.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Veterans' Affairs Committee Chair Michael Benedetto today announced initiatives included in the SFY 2013-2014 Budget to help New York's returning soldiers by improving employment services and providing a tax credit to businesses that employ post-9/11 military veterans.

Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Education Chair Catherine Nolan today announced the SFY 2013-2014 Budget agreement allocates $21.2 billion in aid for local school districts for the 2013-2014 School Year (SY). Formula Aid will be distributed in the amount of $20.8 billion. This is an increase of $936 million over SY 2012-2013.

Taking another step to reduce gun violence in New York, Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced the SFY 2013-2014 Budget will provide $27.7 million to the Office of Information Technology Services for an electronic gun permit database, as called for in the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (NY SAFE) Act.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Higher Education Committee Chair Deborah J. Glick today announced the 2013-2014 Budget includes higher education appropriations that will decrease the financial burden on community college students, preserve funding for SUNY and CUNY child care centers and SUNY health science centers, and increase aid to opportunity programs.

I am pleased that the Governor and the Legislature have reached agreement on the conceptual framework of a budget that maintains the Assembly Majority’s longstanding commitments while making critical investments in the future of our state.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Local Governments Committee Chair William Magnarelli today announced that the Assembly's budget proposal for SFY 2013-14 calls for more than $660 million over three years in increased funding, above the Executive's budget, for programs to help the state's financially struggling local governments.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Education Committee Chair Catherine Nolan today announced an Assembly budget allocation of $21.1 billion in school aid, an increase of $834 million in formula aid over SY 2012-2013. The Assembly proposal is an increase of $334 million over the Executive Budget proposal for SY 2013-2014.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced that the Assembly's budget proposal for SFY 2013-14 calls for more than $660 million over three years in increased funding, above the Executive's budget, for programs to aid New York City and the state's financially struggling local governments.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi today announced that the Assembly budget proposal includes $1.7 million for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) to begin updating certain diesel locomotives owned by its subsidiary, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). The locomotives, which haul solid waste across New York City and Long Island, are in need of updates to improve their emissions and thereby reduce pollution for residents of these areas.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Mental Health Committee Chair Aileen Gunther today announced that the Assembly's budget proposal would restore $120 million in critical funding to the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) for services provided by nonprofit organizations that serve individuals with developmental disabilities.

Today, Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that additional funding will be included in the Assembly budget proposal for SUNY and CUNY community colleges. The plan includes an additional $150 per full-time equivalent (FTE) student to raise the total community college base aid to $2,422 per FTE. The proposal also includes the restoration of more than $1.5 million for SUNY and CUNY child care centers which provide vital assistance to parents who attend college.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Staten Island Democratic Assembly members Michael Cusick and Matthew Titone today announced that the Assembly's budget proposal will include a provision to reduce the resident toll for crossing of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to $5.50 and to expand the discount program to include commercial vehicles for businesses that are primarily located on Staten Island.

In another strong show of institutional support for the college aspirations of undocumented youth, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced a budget proposal appropriation of $25 million to fund the New York State DREAM Act.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman D. Farrell, Jr. today unveiled the Assembly Majority's annual Revenue and Economic Reports for New York State.

These reports provide critical information about the state economy and are helpful to members of the Assembly as they work with Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Senate toward a state budget agreement that is timely and fiscally responsible.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Herman D. Farrell, Jr. today announced the release of the Assembly's Statistical and Narrative Summary of the Executive Budget.

The Yellow Book, as it is known, analyzes Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $142 billion SFY 2013-2014 Executive Budget Proposal.

Senate Finance Committee Chair John A. DeFrancisco and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman D. Farrell, Jr., today announced the Joint Legislative Hearing Schedule on the 2013-2014 Executive Budget proposal.

These hearings, each of which focuses on a programmatic area, are intended to provide the appropriate legislative committees with public input on the executive budget proposal. The hearings will be available for viewing on the Senate and Assembly websites. The Legislative Channel (on cable systems throughout the state) also will carry the proceedings, which will be preempted when the houses are in session. At the conclusion of the legislative deliberations, the channel will resume televised coverage of the hearings.

Governor Cuomo's 2013-14 State Budget builds on our success over the last two years and proposes to close the state's fiscal gap in a prudent manner. I am encouraged that the Governor has included a minimum wage increase as part of the budget. I firmly believe an indexing provision is crucial to ensuring that it keeps up with rising costs for low wage workers and provides them certainty. Raising New York's minimum wage has long been an Assembly priority and I look forward to a productive dialogue on this and other issues in the weeks ahead as we work to enact an early budget for New York.