One-House Budget Proposals Released

On Tuesday, March 14th both the Assembly and Senate released their One-House Budget Proposals, and subsequently passed their individual One-House Budget Resolutions on Thursday, March 16th. Both Houses pushed back on several of Governor Hochul’s proposals by removing them altogether. Some of the most notable Executive proposals that both Houses rejected include:

  • The Governor’s plan to mandate new housing upstate and in the suburbs;
  • The proposed changes to New York’s bail laws that would provide judges with more discretion;
  • The proposal to allow for more charter schools in New York City;
  • Governor Hochul’s proposed ban on flavored tobacco products;
  • The Governor’s proposal to give the New York State Department of Financial Services new authority to regulate overdraft fees and how banks process consumer debit and credit transactions;
  • The proposal to increase tuition at SUNY schools; and
  • The proposed increase to the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax.

There were also several new proposals included in both One-House proposals, three of which are an additional $280 million for universal school meals, creating the Housing Access Voucher Program, and increasing the personal income tax from 10.30% to 10.80% for New Yorkers making over $5 million and from 10.90% to 11.40% for New Yorkers that make over $25 million. Some of the notable changes and additions to each budget include:

Senate One-House Proposal

  • Modified the Governor’s Cap-and-Invest proposal to implement emissions reduction requirements under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) by adding specific programmatic details regarding issuance of allocation of allowances, labor standards and protections, prevention of market manipulation, and protections for disadvantaged communities, and setting up the CLCPA Fund to ensure all benefits and rebates from the program are equitably distributed;
  • Modified the Governor’s proposal requiring assisted living residences to report to the Department of Health (DOH) on quality measures which the Department will use to grant an advanced standing classification by omitting the provisions related to modified inspection schedules for facilities with advanced standing classification or that obtain accreditation from a nationally recognized accreditor;
  • Modified the Governor’s proposal to create a new wholesale temporary permit by lengthening the duration of such permits;
  • Modified the Governor’s proposal to permanently extend and amend the temporary retail permit program by omitting language that would have expanded the eligible locations in New York City and limiting the increase in the length of extension to applications for locations outside New York City;
  • Added a proposal to eliminate current and future mandatory fees to SUNY and CUNY graduate students;
  • Added a proposal to establish a commission to conduct a feasibility study on the formation and control of a State public bank;
  • Added a proposal to increase the minimum wage for home care workers by an additional two dollars over two years;
  • Added a proposal to create an Independent Intellectual and Developmental Disability Ombudsman Program;
  • Added the Clean Slate Act;
  • Added a proposal to allow some nursing clinical education to be completed through simulation under SED approval;
  • Added a proposal to expand the Returnable Container Act by increasing the deposit on returnable beverage containers to 10 cents and requiring deposits on additional types of beverage containers;
  • Added a proposal to establish the New York Voting and Elections Database and Institute;
  • Added a proposal to require all state agencies to perform an inventory of technological assets, including all hardware and software, for the purpose of identifying vulnerabilities and capacity needs;
  • Added a proposal to repeal the excise tax on medical cannabis; and
  • Added a proposal to create the “NY Hemp Project” within the Excelsior Jobs Program.

Assembly One-House Proposal

  • Modified the Governor’s proposal to expand eligibility for child care assistance and allow the Office of Children and Family Services to establish uniform priority standards for applicants of child care assistance by including language that would reduce the copayments cap from 10% to 1% of a family’s income and increase the number of allowable absences from 24 to 80;
  • Modified the Governor’s proposal to establish a 2.5% COLA for the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year, by increasing the COLA to 8.5% for human services workers of the Office of Mental Health, the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, the Office for Temporary Disability Assistance, the Office for Children and Family Services, and the Office of the Aging;
  • Modified the Governor’s proposal to expand the Medicaid Buy-in Program for working people with disabilities by limited monthly premium payments to 8.5% of an enrollee’s income;
  • Modified appropriation language to ensure a coordinated effort to deploy electric vehicle fast-chargers and related electric grid transmission and distribution infrastructure and interconnection upgrades;
  • Removed the Governor’s Cap-and-Invest Program proposal;
  • Added a proposal to apply the 4% State and 4% local sales tax to certain digital streaming products;
  • Added a proposal to establish a Small Business Hardship Savings Account Program;
  • Added a proposal to create a new Small Business Inflation Assistance Grant Program to be administered by the Urban Development Corporation;
  • Added a proposal to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Production Credit amounts for cider, wine, and liquor;
  • Added a proposal to establish a $0.25 fee on any delivery transactions occurring in the State;
  • Added a proposal to provide access to medication abortion prescription drugs to all SUNY students;
  • Added a proposal to repeal the Medicaid Pharmacy Benefit Transition from managed care to fee-for-service, which would allow certain providers to maintain eligibility to receive funding under the federal 340B program;
  • Added a proposal to ensure that all enrollees of the Medicaid Health Homes Care Management Program are able to maintain access as long as needed;
  • Added a proposal that would establish a task force to provide recommendations that aim to remove barriers for aging residents in mental health housing programs to receive both medical and mental health care; and
  • Added a proposal that would establish parameters for the Energy Affordability Program appropriation.

Now that both Houses have introduced their One-House proposals, the Governor will begin negotiations with the Legislative leaders on a final State Budget. The New York State Constitution requires a final budget to be approved by April 1st.