Assemblyman Josh Jensen, 134th Assembly District:
“Today, in her budget proposal, the governor proposed a record New York state budget. While families are struggling with their own finances, this proposal would see our state’s obligation increase by $6 billion. While we must prioritize and fund services New Yorkers need, we should be ensuring our state’s fiscal health by using taxpayer dollars in the most effective and efficient method possible, while securing our fiscal future. We cannot continue to ask families and businesses for more and more. I look forward to giving the budget proposal strict scrutiny during the upcoming legislation budget hearings and process.”
Assemblyman Steve Hawley, 139th Assembly District:
“It’s that time of the year again. The Majority in Albany is once again desperately trying to clean up its mess by spending money we don’t have on projects we don’t need. Lowering the amount our public schools will receive to help teachers and students rebuild after COVID and giving over $2 billion to try to solve the self-inflicted migrant crisis are just more examples of downstate interests trumping the needs of Western New Yorkers. This administration needs to be more fiscally responsible. Families across our state have to create reasonable budgets and live within their means. It’s about time Gov. Hochul and the Majority did the same.”
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director,
New York Immigration Coalition:
“Today, Governor Hochul acknowledged that the unprecedented humanitarian situation in New York requires continued support from the state. Her $88 million investment in asylum and immigrant legal services is a step in the right direction but falls short of what is needed to fully support immigrant families and boost legal service provider capacity to meet the needs of all immigrant New Yorkers. This historic moment requires a historic intervention—one that meets today’s needs while creating the infrastructure to meet tomorrow’s demands. Lawmakers in Albany must deliver a $150 million investment in legal services, just 0.006% of the state budget, to make a dent in the backlog of 200,000 pending cases and give immigrant families a fighting chance to remain with their families, stabilize communities and support our economy now and into the future. We look forward to working with Governor Hochul and our legislative leaders to increase investments in legal services and pass the Access to Representation Act this session to ensure the health and stability of New York’s workforce and immigrant families into the future.”
George Gresham, President,
1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
and Kenneth E. Raske, President,
Greater New York Hospital Association:
“In her State of the State address on January 9, Governor Hochul noted that ‘hospitals in New York are struggling financially more than in the rest of the U.S – 42% of hospital facilities in New York had an operating deficit in 2021.’ The Governor did not mention that the figure rose to 63% in 2022. The root cause of this crisis is that New York’s Medicaid program funds hospitals 30% less than the actual cost of delivering care.
Today’s State Budget announcement was an opportunity for the Governor to set a new course. But she did not. It’s no wonder that so many hospitals are in deep financial trouble and critical health indicators are worsening, especially in low-income communities.
The Executive Branch makes frequent mention of the 7.5% Medicaid rate increase for hospitals in last year’s budget. But that increase – after the rate remained essentially flat for 15 years – was almost completely wiped out by the budget’s hospital cuts (e.g., cuts to the Indigent Care Pool and the 340B drug program). Given these cuts, the effective rate increase was only 1.6%, about one-quarter of the cost increases that hospitals have experienced.
New York State must end the drastic underfunding of care for Medicaid recipients. 1199SEIU and GNYHA will continue to educate all those willing on the urgent need to increase New York’s Medicaid reimbursement rate for hospitals to 100% of cost over several years and strive for health care justice for all New Yorkers by reducing health care disparities and improving health outcomes for low-income, predominantly Black and Brown communities.
We will also work with stakeholders to tackle the real cost drivers of New York’s Medicaid program, such as the unsustainable growth rate of managed long-term care.
We call again on the Governor and the Legislature to join us in achieving those goals.”
Melinda Person, President, New York State United Teachers:
“We share the governor’s ambitious vision for public schools that invests in addressing student mental health, expanding professional opportunities for educators, and enhancing our approach to teaching reading.
Particularly in fulfilling the state’s promise to fully fund Foundation Aid, the governor has been clear she wants our public schools, colleges, universities and hospitals to be as strong as possible and to position New York as an economic and innovation powerhouse.
The Foundation Aid formula is how we determine what resources our schools need. We’re concerned that the executive budget proposal includes modifications to the formula to reduce School Aid costs. The critical need to consistently support our students and educators should not vary with the fluctuations in our state tax revenue.
We know this proposal is just the start of the budget process, and we are happy to work with the governor and Legislature to ensure that the state can continue to completely fund the education opportunities that New York’s students deserve.”
Brian Sampson, President,
Associated Builders & Contractors Empire State Chapter:
“While we continue to pour through the budget book and gather all the specific details, so far, we’re pleased with the governor’s efforts to build affordable and market-rate housing, invest in capital projects for our SUNY/CUNY campuses, and fund other critical infrastructure projects across the state. What we need now is for the legislature to join the Governor in this effort.
While housing must be a focus, we cannot continue to ignore the lack of progress on modernizing, roads, sewers, and energy grid, replacing our outdated bridges, improving our college campuses and expanding broadband. The legislature’s policy decisions and regulations continue to negatively impact our ability to do more with the limited resources we have available. While a massive investment is needed, we also need regulatory reform. That includes ending the continued use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and prevailing wages on critical projects and repealing the Scaffold Law (LL 240), which costs taxpayers billions annually.
New York was once the Empire State. While some may want to say we are, we cannot continue to allow them to lie to us. New York has seen an exodus of our people to other states to pursue job opportunities and to make the dollar go further. They want to afford a better quality of life and are finding it outside of New York. If Governor Hochul and the legislature are serious about making the future brighter, then they must fix the policies that drive away investment.”
Daniel P. McCoy, President,
New York State Association of Counties:
“The state budget proposal unveiled today is a positive step forward that delivers on several county government related priorities. First and foremost, there do not appear to be any new unfunded mandates, which have burdened local taxpayers unnecessarily for decades. The budget also appears to finally enable counties to collect revenue that is owed but remains uncollected from vacation rental platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. This has been a priority for counties to close this loophole and bring parity amongst the industry. We are also encouraged by the Governor’s commitment of $135 million to partner with local governments on strengthening emergency communication systems and infrastructure.
We also applaud Governor Hochul for her willingness to work with counties over the last several months to develop a workable framework to meet the requirements of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County regarding property tax foreclosures. As we delve into the budget details, we expect that many of our suggestions have been incorporated into her proposal, and we encourage the State Legislature to support its inclusion in the final budget.
In terms of the over $1 billion in federal Medicaid funds that are still owed to counties and New York City, we remain committed to working with the Governor and Legislature to find a resolution to this.”
Michael J. Borges, Executive Director,
Rural Housing Coalition of New York:
“Last year’s Executive Budget at least had ambitious and farsighted initiatives to address the housing crisis. This year the pendulum has swung all the way back with a lackluster set of programs that mostly address vacant state-owned properties and New York City while neglecting the rest of the state.
Despite a Marist Institute Poll commissioned by the Rural Housing Coalition showing that 73% of New Yorkers believe addressing the housing crisis is a priority in their community, and 71% believe the state doesn’t provide enough funding to address the problem, the Executive Budget cuts funding for programs serving disabled and elderly homeowners, cuts funding for the rural preservation program and cuts funding to build small affordable rental developments.
It’s honestly a mind-boggling budget proposal that cuts funding for vital programs in the midst of a housing crisis and ignores New Yorkers from all over the state who believe housing should be a priority for policymakers. We call upon the Legislature to reverse these cuts and to convene a Housing Task Force including stakeholders representing all parts of the state to develop a plan to address the housing crisis.”
