Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. today announced that the Assembly one-house budget proposal includes increased funding to local governments across the state and removes cuts previously proposed by the Governor for municipalities that failed to comply with certain directives.

The SFY 2021-22 Executive Budget proposal included $654 million for the Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) program, which provides vital funding to New York’s municipalities. This proposal reflected a decrease of $39 million from last year’s enacted state budget and effectively eliminated all remaining direct AIM payments for towns and villages from the state. Further, the proposal included a 20% reduction for all town and village AIM-related payments.

As the Chair of the Assembly Local Governments Committee, Assemblyman Thiele rejected the cuts proposed under the Executive’s budget plan and advocated for the restoration of AIM funding through direct payments. As a result, the Assembly one-house budget proposal includes a full restoration of AIM funding through direct payments from the state and an increase of $125 million in funding for this program for 2021-22.

In addition, on June 12, 2020 Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 203, the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative, which required all municipalities across New York State to develop and adopt a policing reform plan that will maintain public safety while building mutual trust and respect between police and the communities they serve. Subsequent guidance issued by the Governor’s office clarified that every locality was required to adopt a plan for reform by April 1, 2021 in order to be eligible for future state funding. The Assembly one-house budget proposal removes this requirement and allows all municipalities to be eligible for state funding regardless of the status of their policing reform plan on April 1.

Assemblyman Thiele stated, “During a year that has left local governments across the state in dire fiscal distress, we must ensure that the state is providing adequate necessary support funding and removing all barriers to economic recovery. As the Chair of the Local Governments Committee, I am proud to have these two major initiatives included in the Assembly budget proposal and will continue to fight on behalf of our local governments across the state.”