Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a $232.7 billion budget today that mostly holds the line on taxes and attempts to close a $4.3 billion budget gap for fiscal 2025.
The governor’s budget plan includes about $2.4 billion in new spending to address the migrant crisis and help house some of the 64,100 asylum-seekers under New York City’s care.
The spending plan includes $200 million to open four new workforce development centers across Upstate New York to serve Micron Technology and other high-tech manufacturers. A center in Syracuse would serve as the flagship of the program.
Hochul proposed using “new and existing capital and other resources” to pay for the workforce development center, but the source of that money was not immediately clear.
The budget also includes $50 million to fight pockets of extreme child poverty in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, the Upstate cities with the state’s highest poverty rates.
Hochul provided an outline of her budget proposal in an address this morning at the State Capitol in Albany.
The proposal reflects a spending increase of about 0.5%, or about $1 billion more than this year. State officials said the budget reflects higher spending for school aid, the migrant crisis, and Medicaid.
Hochul’s proposal does not include a proposal for broad tax increases on the wealthy or corporations, despite a push to do so by some state lawmakers.
Administration officials said the state will be aided in closing the budget gap by about $2.2 billion in higher-than-expected tax receipts this year.
The governor also wants to dip into the state’s surplus fund in the coming year, using $1.7 billion to reduce the budget gap, according to the proposal.
The budget includes a proposed change in the formula the state uses to distribute aid to local school districts, part of an attempt to close a gap between wealthy and poorer districts. A state budget official said details on which districts would be affected will not be available until later today.
Hochul and lawmakers will now begin their annual negotiations over what to include and cut out of the final budget. The budget for the 2025 fiscal year begins on April 1.
Hochul is presenting details of her budget plan this morning in Albany. Check back at syracuse.com for updates.
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