It Takes A Primary Opponent From Long Island - Governor Hochul Announces FY 2023 Budget Investments to Deliver for Long Island Families

 

Includes $350 Million in Investments to Strengthen Long Island's Economy

$500 Million for the Development of Offshore Wind      

Increases School Aid on Long Island by $457.6 Million  

Includes Nearly $1 Million to Support Community-Based Not-For-Profit Groups That Provide Housing Assistance, Community Renewal Activities, and Rental Subsidies in the Long Island Region    

Creates the Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit Providing Relief to an Estimated 494,000 Property Tax-Paying Households  

Provides Nearly $63 Million to Support Addiction Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention on Long Island    

Allocates Approximately $370,000 to fund the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer-to-Peer Services Program within the Long Island Region  

 Governor Kathy Hochul today announced regional investments of the FY 2023 budget to deliver for Long Island families. Governor Hochul's historic FY 2023 budget pairs bold vision with fiscal responsibility, investing in the long-term future of New York. Rebuilding the healthcare economy, building the education system of the future, reducing the tax burden for those who need it most, improving the state's transportation and housing infrastructure, combating climate change, creating jobs, and improving public safety and ethics in government are front and center in this blueprint to meet the opportunity to invest in New Yorkers.

"With our transformative $221 billion budget, we're showing that we can tackle the big issues facing New Yorkers, and I'm proud to announce historic investments that will make a real difference in people's lives on Long Island now and for years to come," Governor Hochul said. "From historic support for our schools and tax relief for middle-class New Yorkers, to the largest investment in infrastructure in State history - filling the potholes that plague our streets - this budget delivers for Long Islanders in a big way. Every New Yorker deserves a fair shot at achieving what I call the "New York Dream," and I look forward to seeing all the ways this budget will help build a better, fairer, and more inclusive New York State."

Regional highlights of the FY 2023 Budget specific to Long Island's communities include:

Local Government

• Provide Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. The Budget provides $26.2 million in general purpose aid to the region's local governments.
• Consolidate Local Governments to Create Taxpayer Savings. The Budget provides $1 million in savings for Long Island taxpayers residing in dissolved villages through the Citizen Empowerment Tax Credit (CETC) program.

Economic Development

• Long Island Investment Fund. The Budget includes $350 million to support capital investments for projects that support and grow the regional economy and enhance communities across Long Island.
• Offshore Wind. $500 million for the development of New York's offshore wind port infrastructure and related supply chain. Funding will supply the infrastructure needed to advance offshore wind industry, leveraging private capital to deliver more than $2 billion in economic activity while creating more than 2,000 green jobs.
• Cold Spring Harbor/Stony Brook AI Partnership. $50 million to support an artificial intelligence partnership between Cold Spring Harbor Lab and Stony Brook University.

Education

• Support Long Island Schools. New York State continues its strong commitment to education by providing additional funding to meet the needs of students, teachers, and schools amid the ongoing challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The FY 2023 Enacted Budget increases School Aid on Long Island by $457.6 million (12.7 percent), including a $406.7 million (17.1 percent) increase in Foundation Aid. This increase is largely driven by the second year of the three-year phase-in of full funding of the Foundation Aid formula.

Energy and Environment

• The FY23 Enacted Budget includes additional funding for the following State Park projects:
  • $5 million for Jones Beach East Bathhouse Design
  • $4 million for Bayard Cutting Arboretum Visitor Center
  • $300,000 for Montauk Downs Clubhouse Transformation
• The FY23 Enacted Budget includes additional funding for the following DEC project:
  • Lower Peconic River fishing access improvements off Route 25 in Riverhead. Improvements include a canoe portage with steps, boat slide, hand carry boat launch and parking lot improvements.
• $2.5 million for the Long Island Pine Barrens Commission, supported by the EPF.
• $4.5 million for Suffolk County and $5 million for Nassau County in Water Quality Protection Improvement Program funding, supported by the EPF.
• $1 million for the Center for Clean Water at Stony Brook, supported by the EPF.

Health

• Invest in Local Health Departments. The Enacted Budget includes $1.9 million in funding to increase the General Public Health Work (Article 6) base grants -- $885,000 for Nassau County and $970,000 for Suffolk County. The Enacted Budget also invests funding for all counties to cover a portion of fringe benefit costs for public health staff through State Aid reimbursement, which will help counties increase their staffing levels to meet public health demands.

Housing

• Neighborhood and Rural Preservation Program (NPP/ RPP). The Enacted Budget includes nearly $1 million for the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP) and Rural Preservation Program (RPP) to support community-based not-for-profit groups that provide housing assistance, community renewal activities, and rental subsidies in the Long Island region.
• Rural Rental Assistance Program (RRAP). The Executive provides rental assistance through the Rural Rental Assistance Program (RRAP) for more than 50 units of low-income housing for rural tenants on Long Island.

Mental Hygiene

• Support Addiction Treatment Services. The budget provides nearly $63 million to support addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention on Long Island. This funding will support a myriad of programs, including opioid treatment, residential treatment beds, outpatient treatment clinics, prevention programs, recovery community and outreach centers, a youth clubhouse, a problem gambling resource center, jail-based treatment, and one State-Operated Addiction Treatment Center. These programs provide individual and group counseling, medication-assisted treatment, educational services, case management, vocational assessment, job skills training, employment readiness, parenting skills, and social/community living skills.
• Veteran Peer-to-Peer Services Program. Named to honor the memory of a veteran who committed suicide, the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer-to-Peer Services Program offers a non-clinical support model by veterans to veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), suicidal ideations, and/or other mental health challenges. The budget will allocate approximately $370,000 to fund the program within the Long Island Region.

Revenue Actions and STAR

• Provide a Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit. The Budget creates a new property tax relief credit, the Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit, for eligible low- and middle-income households, as well as eligible senior households. Basic STAR exemption and credit beneficiaries with incomes below $250,000 and Enhanced STAR recipients are eligible for the property tax rebate where the benefit is a percentage of the homeowner's existing STAR benefit. The average benefit for Long Island homeowners will be about $1,290, providing relief to an estimated 494,000 property tax-paying households.
• Accelerate the Middle-Class Tax Cut. The Budget accelerates the phase-in of the Middle-Class Tax Cut by two years, fully implementing the cut beginning tax year 2023 instead of tax year 2025.
• Provide Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Noncustodial Parent EITC Bonus Payments. The Budget provides a one-time supplemental payment equal to 25 percent of the EITC or Noncustodial Parent EITC claimed for tax year 2021, provided the benefit is at least $25
• Provide an Empire State Child Credit (ESCC) Bonus Payment. The Budget provides a one-time supplemental payment of between 25 and 100 percent of the ESCC claimed for tax year 2021, provided the benefit is at least $25.

Transportation

• CHIPS Local Highway Aid Program: The Budget provides $49.6 million in funding for local roads and bridges on Long Island through the CHIPS program.
• PAVE NY Local Highway Aid Program: The Budget provides $13.7 million in funding for local roads on Long Island through the PAVE NY program.
• Extreme Winter Recovery (EWR): The Budget provides $9.4 million in funding for local roads and bridges through the EWR program.
• State Touring Routes (STR): The Budget provides $0.3 million in funding for local roads through the STR program.
• Pave our Potholes (POP): The Budget provides $9.2 million in funding for local roads through the POP program.
• Road and Bridge Improvements: The Budget includes funding for road and bridge projects in the Long Island region such as:
  • $6.5 million to perform bridge deck and steel repairs on the bridge that carries westbound Route 27 over Barnes Road in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County.
  • $9.9 million for pavement renewal along the Long Island Expressway, from Route 112 to Yaphank Avenue, in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County.
  • $14.8 million for pavement renewal along Northern Boulevard (Route 25A), from the Queens/Nassau County line to Old Northern Boulevard, from Forest Drive to Glen Cove Road and from Annandale Drive to the Nassau/Suffolk County line in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County and from the Nassau/Suffolk County line to Harbor Road (Route 108) in the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County.
• Transit Operating Assistance: The Budget provides $40.7 million in transit operating assistance to Suffolk County and $103.4 million to Nassau County. Each represents a 36% increase over the prior year. This region is also affected by MTA operations; the MTA will receive $6.6 billion in transit operating assistance. 
• Non-MTA Transit Capital Assistance: The Budget provides a $35 million a year increase in non-MTA transit capital assistance, a portion of which benefits both Suffolk and Nassau County. The Budget also includes $20 million for the third year of a $100 million five-year capital program to support transit agencies' transition to electric buses, a portion of which benefits Suffolk County.