Dear Community,
As always, I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy.
It goes without saying that this has been a very difficult two months for our community – but as your State Senator, I have not stopped fighting to protect your rights and secure your safety, even under these uncertain circumstances.
In this unprecedented moment, we officially passed the SFY 2020-21 Budget on April 3rd. We could not have imagined when the budget process began in January the challenges our state is currently facing. I understood that given the growing deficit our state faces under the COVID-19 pandemic, compromise would play a central role in our decision-making. However, I will be transparent in saying that I am deeply disappointed in the path we ultimately chose and the priorities the final budget reflects. You can read about how and why I voted on the budget the way that I did, in my interview with The Appeal.
In part because of your advocacy, our conference fought hard to include revenue raisers in the budget to help fill the deficit. We could have raised revenue that would financially support all of our communities through this difficult time, by asking the New Yorkers with the most to chip in a little more or by legalizing adult-use marijuana.
Instead, the budget was balanced on the backs of the most vulnerable New Yorkers and our critical healthcare system. It includes billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid funding, as well as rollbacks to transformative criminal justice reforms we passed last year. We have cast a dark shadow over our communities in their greatest moment of need, by delivering a budget that puts millions of New Yorkers in harm’s way and fails to meet the needs of our healthcare system under these extraordinary circumstances.
Without invalidating our losses, I want to acknowledge some of the good fights won in this budget. We legalized gestational surrogacy to grow New York families, banned styrofoam and fracking to protect our environment, and expanded the prevailing wage and legalized e-bikes to support working New Yorkers.
However, the fact remains that the significant losses in this year’s budget are a microcosm of what is wrong with this process and the disproportionate power dynamics in Albany. The unilateral control the Executive branch holds over the budget process undermines the duty of legislators to make thoughtful spending and policy choices on behalf of your interests and priorities. It is neither fair, nor just to subdue the voice of the people in this way, which is why my colleagues and I have set out to change it.
This week I introduced legislation that would amend the New York State Constitution to give the Legislature its fair share of bargaining power in the budget process. By putting us on equal-footing with the Executive in the budget process, your voices will be lifted. The fight for a constitutional amendment is going to be a long and difficult battle, but the only way we will achieve budget justice for the people of New York is by ensuring our communities have a true seat at the table.
Again, I want to emphasize that the adopted budget is far from what I had hoped for, and is less than you deserve, despite the few silver linings in the mix. Regardless, it is critical that you familiarize yourself with the contents, both good and bad, in order to understand how they will impact your life as we continue to navigate this pandemic together.
Below is a breakdown of this year’s adopted budget:
COVID-19 Emergency Funds
- $4 billion in State emergency appropriations to directly address the crisis.
- This is in addition to $40 million allocated in March.
Health and Healthcare
- The budget includes a 1.8% across the board cut to Medicaid, as well as numerous changes designed to make Medicaid more efficient and reduce spending. These measures were negotiated based on the Medicaid Redesign Team II proposals, and include:
- Changes to the Managed Long Term Care program designed to focus services on patients with the highest need;
- Reduced reimbursement to nursing homes on capital projects;
- Changes to reimbursements for 340b pharmacies that serve patients on Medicaid;
- Changes to transportation management for Medicaid patients;
- Partially expands access to telehealth in the Medicaid program so more New Yorkers can connect with their healthcare providers.
- We were able to eliminate $100 million in proposed cuts to hospital funding and created a $250 million funding pool to assist financially distressed hospitals in the final budget. However, this support will not extend to every hospital, including many hospitals in District 34 which will be ineligible, but none-the-less impacted by changes and cuts included in the budget.
- The final budget extends the Medicaid global cap through SFY 2021-22. The growth of local spending will not be considered under the cap.
- Expands tobacco and vaping control regulations, to protect young people including prohibiting the retail sale of most flavored vapor products and creating an education campaign to educate youth about the dangers of vaping.
- Designates 13 fentanyl analogs to Schedule I controlled substances to get these drugs off the streets and protect New Yorkers.
- Authorizes the Department of Financial Services to investigate prescription drug price increases of over 50% and indications of fraud, and created the Drug Accountability Board to participate in the investigations.
- Limits out-of-pocket expenses for a 30 day supply of insulin to be capped at $100.
- Establishes the Curing Alzheimer’s Health Consortium within SUNY to identify genes that predict an increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s.
Supporting Working Families
- Guarantees Sick Leave of at least 5-7 days for all employees.
- Increases Unemployment Insurance funding by $1.05 billion in anticipation of increased unemployment claims due to COVID-19.
- Provides more than $22.65 million for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and other human service programs.
- Provides $200 million in additional support for the Child Care Development Block Grant to assist families affected by the public health emergency.
- Eliminates the current photo identification requirement for public assistance recipients and allows these New Yorkers to access a free identification card.
- Adds $9.8 million to address an anticipated increase in workers compensation claims spurred by COVID-19.
- Adds almost $3.5 million in statewide and local economic development programs
- Legalizes the use of e-bikes and scooters with protections for safety.
- Expands the prevailing wage to certain private projects paid in whole or in part out of public funds.
Schools and Education
- Funding for schools is held flat – every school will receive funding at the same levels as the 2019-20 fiscal year. New York State will spend $27.9 billion on School Aid.
- Provides $10 million in new funding for student mental health support grants and $1 million for civics curriculum development. Additionally, past years’ competitive grants are maintained, totaling more than $230 million in funding to school districts for programs such as early college high schools, after-school programming, and advanced courses.
Criminal Justice System
- Changes to New York’s bail law including expanding the list of bail eligible crimes to include additional domestic violence felonies, high level drug offenses, and certain sex crimes, among other charges. The reforms also expand bail eligibility to individuals who are arrested for certain crimes while awaiting trial for another crime, and require the Office of Court Administration and Department of Criminal Justice Systems to collect and report on how bail is used by judges across New York State. Lastly, the reforms allow private, for-profit companies to provide electronic monitoring services.
- Provides $40 million to support the implementation of discovery reforms, and updates the criminal discovery law, including by extending the initial discovery response deadline and providing clarification in the law to ease the burden on prosecutors working to provide discovery. The reforms also provide additional protections for victims and witnesses.
- Establishes two degrees of Domestic Act of Terrorism Motivated by Hate and establishes a Domestic Terrorism Task Force.
- Bars gun ownership for individuals who commit serious offenses in other states.
- Empowers law enforcement to seize weapons for at least 48 hours when responding to domestic violence incidents. Law enforcement will be authorized to seize firearms that are in plain view when conducting a lawful search in responding to a domestic violence incident.
- Ensures District Attorneys follow current practices and Court Clerks promptly provide information on misdemeanor domestic violence convictions to the State Department of Criminal Justice Services to ensure these offenses are easier to identify on a criminal record for gun background checks.
Environment and Natural Resources
- Authorizes the $3 billion ‘Restore Mother Nature Bond Act.’ If approved by voters, this will provide funding for projects that restore our natural environment, including:
- $1 billion for restoration and flood risk reduction;
- $700 million for climate change mitigation;
- $550 million for open space land conservation and recreation;
- $550 million for water quality improvement and resilient infrastructure; and
- Specific provisions for projects benefiting environmental justice communities.
- Bans polystyrene food packaging and polystyrene packaging peanuts beginning January 1, 2022.
- Codifies the ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing, plus imposing a moratorium on applications for gelled propane hydraulic fracturing filed with the Department of Environmental Conservation.
- Creates a new Office of Renewable Energy Siting, a NYSERDA build-ready program, and an electric power transmission plan to accelerate the development of renewable energy, while ensuring community input and benefits and environmental protections.
Economic Development
- Extends the application period for START-UP NY for five years to December 2025.
- The enacted budget provides an additional $4,714,000 for statewide and local economic development programs.
- Extends the Excelsior Tax Credit Program for 5 years.
- Makes the New York Buy American Act permanent.
- Expands the eligibility of the Economic Transformation Facility Redevelopment Program through 2021 to support the economies of communities affected by the closure of certain correctional facilities in 2011.
- Provides an additional $365,000 for Minority and Women-Owned Business Development.
Veterans
- Provides funds for programs that help connect veterans with peers, address PTSD, and transition back to civilian life.
- Extends the ‘Hire-a-Vet’ tax credit to help incentivize New York businesses to provide good paying jobs for returning veterans.
Transportation
- Commits $3 billion to the MTA's 2020-24 Capital Plan.
- Provides the State Department of Transportation with $6 billion in capital funds to help ensure vital investments are made to the state’s transportation system.
- Allocates funds for extreme winter recovery road reconstruction to keep these roads functional so New Yorkers can continue traveling safely.
- Increases Statewide Mass Transportation Operating Assistance to support public transit systems across the state.
- Allows the MTA to temporarily access emergency loans to offset revenue losses and increased costs caused by COVID-19, with measures in place to ensure the money is spent wisely and that emergency borrowing will be paid off as quickly as possible when revenues recover.
- Empowers the MTA to temporarily borrow from the central business district lockbox to offset revenue losses caused by COVID-19, with strong protections in the form of review by the MTA Board, the State Budget Division, and a requirement that the lockbox will be repaid with priority.
Local Government and Taxpayers
- Allows for up to 40 years’ maturity for loans helping low-income communities finance water infrastructure improvements.
- Ensures pay equity at state and local public authorities.
- Moves the NYC Housing Vacancy Study to accommodate the Federal Census.
Human Rights
- Legalizes gestational surrogacy with significant protections for people acting as surrogate.
- Bans discriminatory gender-based pricing, commonly referred to as the “pink tax.”
Democracy
- Codifies the recommendations of the Campaign Finance Reform Commission to create a public financing program in New York State. This program will take effect after the 2022 general election and will match small-donor donations to participating candidates, helping to amplify the voices of New Yorkers regardless of their ability to donate large sums. These changes also include:
- Lowering individual contribution limits.
- Raising the threshold for a party to qualify for a line on the ballot in each election.
With Gratitude,
State Senator Alessandra Biaggi
