Governor Hochul Announces Inflation Refund Checks Up to $400 Coming This Fall to 8.2 Million Households Across New York State

New York’s First-Ever Inflation Refund Checks Will Be Mailed to Eligible New Yorkers in October and November; No Need To Apply or Sign Up

Continues Governor’s Commitment To Putting More Money in New Yorkers’ Pockets

Governor Cut Taxes for the Middle Class, Expanded Child Tax Credit and Secured Universal Free School Meals in State Budget Deal

Visit ny.gov/inflationrefund for More Information

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that inflation refund checks up to $400 will be sent this fall to 8.2 million households across New York State. Checks will be mailed directly to eligible New Yorkers starting in October and will continue through November. There is no need to apply, sign up or do anything to receive a check. Governor Hochul secured and enacted this initiative in the FY 2026 State Budget as part of her ongoing commitment to putting money back in the pockets of New Yorkers. The State Budget also enacted the Governor’s initiatives to cut taxes for the middle class to their lowest levels in 70 years, expand New York’s Child Tax Credit to up to $1,000 per child, and ensure universal free school meals to save families around $1,600 per child.

“Starting in October, over 8 million New Yorkers will get an inflation refund because it's simple — this is your money and we're putting it back in your pockets,” Governor Hochul said. “I'll never stop fighting to help your family address the rising cost of living — and that's why I also delivered on my promise to cut taxes for the middle class, expand the child tax credit and ensure free school meals for every student.”

Who’s Eligible for an Inflation Refund Check?

You are eligible for an inflation refund check if, for tax year 2023, you:

• Filed Form IT-201, New York State Resident Income Tax Return;
• Reported income within the qualifying thresholds below; and
• Were not claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s return.

Joint tax filers with income up to $150,000 will receive a $400 check.

Joint tax filers with income over $150,000 but no greater than $300,000 will receive a $300 check.

Single tax filers with income up to $75,000 will receive a $200 check.

Single tax filers with incomes over $75,000 but no greater than $150,000 will receive a $150 check.

There are no age restrictions. Filers do not need to do anything to receive an inflation refund check. If you filed a tax return, are below the income thresholds, and no one else claimed you as a dependent, you will receive a check.

When Will Checks Be Delivered?

Checks will be mailed across the state starting in October, and deliveries will continue through November.

Your check may arrive earlier or later than your neighbors, as mailings will not be based on zip code or region.

Additional information from the New York State Tax Department can be seen at ny.gov/inflationrefund.

 Regional Breakdown

Inflation refund checks will be sent this fall to 8.2 million households throughout all corners of New York State. A breakdown of the number of checks going to each region can be seen below.

Region	Number of Recipients
New York City	3.53 million
Long Island	1.25 million
Mid-Hudson	924,000
Western New York	585,000
Finger Lakes	513,000
Capital Region	475,000
Central New York	321,000
Southern Tier	251,000
Mohawk Valley	198,000
North Country	156,000
TOTAL	8.2 million

Comptroller Lander Analyzes the Impact of Trump Medicaid & SNAP Cuts to New Yorkers

 

Proposed federal cuts would impact over 4 million New Yorkers on Medicaid, nearly 3 million New Yorkers on SNAP 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander highlighted the looming threat of the Trump Administration and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. 

“Over 4 million New York City residents are enrolled in Medicaid and nearly 2 million New York City residents receive SNAP benefits in order to cover basic health care and food,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Yet Trump and the Republican reconciliation bills aimed at hollowing out Medicaid and SNAP will go beyond their original vendettas against the unemployed and poor, ‘woke’ medicine, or undocumented immigrants—this budget hurts millions of people fighting to remain in this increasingly unaffordable city. Draconian figures like Trump have tried to gut our social safety net before, but hardworking New Yorkers and their families will remember every time they visit a hospital or go to bed hungry.”  

Congress’ current iteration of budget reconciliation would cut Medicaid by at least $715 billion over 10 years by: 

• Establishes a work requirement for Medicaid and forcing continuous eligibility/​
  verification requirements​ 

• Penalizes states (like New York) that use their own funds to provide health insurance for undocumented immigrants ​ 

• Imposes co-pays ​of up to $35 per service for the expansion population​ 

• Freezes ​new provider taxes ​ 

• Prohibits Medicaid from funding gender affirming care for minors​ 

• Ends reimbursement of community health providers that provide family planning and abortion services​. 

Comptroller Lander underscored how the proposed cuts to Medicaid would have disastrous effects on New York State and the City. During his presentation, Comptroller Lander emphasized:  

• 35% of New Yorkers across the state get healthcare through Medicaid, one of the highest shares of any state in the country   

• 4 million New Yorkers are enrolled in Medicaid, with an additional 1 million on the Essential Plan  

• Medicaid funds nearly half (47%) of all New York births; 55% of the babies born in New York City each year are born to parents covered by Medicaid.  

• Only 65% of New York City workers have employer-sponsored health insurance through their job. 

Together with the proposed cuts to Medicaid, budget reconciliation is also proposing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) be cut by $230 billion in federal spending by forcing states to cover between 5 and 25 percent of the cost of SNAP​. 

• New York State will likely need to cover 25%. 

• In 2024, New York State administered $7.3B in SNAP benefits  

• New York City Department of Social Services issued ~$5B in SNAP benefits. 

• Nearly 3 million New Yorkers receive SNAP benefits, representing 1.7 million families​. 

• 1.8 million New York City residents receive SNAP, including 560,000 children 

• Older adults represent 30% of total SNAP residents in New York City 

•  The bill blocks the USDA’s discretion to increase monthly benefits in line with food prices. ​ 

• Would force states into tough budget decisions about where to cut or reduce eligibility, deflecting responsibility from the federal government 

• In New York, state cost-sharing would add somewhere between $366 million and $1.8 billion in additional costs.

Attorney General James Sues Capital One for Bait-and-Switch Tactics That Cost Customers Millions

 

Capital One Created a Secret, Two-Tier System of Savings Accounts to Avoid Paying Higher Interest Rates to Existing Customers

AG James Takes Action After Federal Administration Abandoned Similar Lawsuit 

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Capital One N.A. and Capital One Financial Corporation (Capital One) for cheating its online savings account customers out of millions of dollars in interest payments. The lawsuit alleges that Capital One marketed its “360 Savings” accounts as “high interest” accounts with “one of the nation’s best savings rates” that would earn its customers more than an average savings account. In reality, while interest rates rose nationwide, Capital One kept the interest rates for its 360 Savings accounts artificially low. Instead, Capital One created “360 Performance Savings,” a nearly identical type of savings account that provided much higher interest rates than 360 Savings – at one point, more than 14 times higher. Capital One intentionally misled its 360 Savings customers about the existence of its 360 Performance Savings product to avoid paying them millions of dollars in interest. With this lawsuit, Attorney General James seeks to hold Capital One accountable and provide restitution to consumers who were cheated out of the interest they thought they were earning.

“New York families work hard to save money for their futures, and they deserve every dollar of interest they are promised,” said Attorney General James. “Capital One assured high returns with no catches, then pulled the rug out from under their customers and hoped nobody would notice. Big banks are not allowed to cheat their customers with false advertising and misleading promises. I will always fight to protect New Yorkers’ wallets and prevent banks from ripping off consumers to boost their own bottom lines.”

A high-interest savings account is a bank account that pays depositors a higher interest rate than a traditional savings account. Capital One marketed 360 Savings as its “high interest” savings account product with “a great everyday rate,” promising customers: “Your money will earn much more than what it would in an average savings or money market account…What’s the catch? There is none.”

However, beginning in September 2019, Capital One introduced a new type of savings account called 360 Performance Savings that paid much higher interest rates. As interest rates rose nationwide beginning in 2022, Capital One froze its 360 Savings rate at 0.3 percent and increased its 360 Performance Savings rate to as high as 4.35 percent, leaving 360 Savings customers with a below average interest rate. Instead of encouraging 360 Savings customers to upgrade their existing accounts, Capital One worked to keep them in the dark about the availability of the new product.

As Attorney General James alleges in the lawsuit, while Capital One promoted its 360 Performance Savings accounts to existing customers, it did not notify its 360 Savings customers of the chance to earn more interest. Capital One even instructed its employees not to tell 360 Savings customers about the new product unless they explicitly asked.

Capital One removed 360 Savings from its website and completely replaced it with 360 Performance Savings, concealing that 360 Savings and 360 Performance Savings existed as separate and distinct products with different interest rates. By doing so, Capital One created a secret, two-tier system of savings accounts in which only new accounts received the high interest rates that Capital One advertised.

With compound interest, even a small difference in rates adds up over time to create large differences in savings, meaning customers who stayed in 360 Savings accounts lost out on significant interest payments. A customer who put $10,000 in a 360 Savings account in September 2019 would have earned $186 of interest after five years. If the same customer had switched to a 360 Performance Savings account, they would have earned $1,090 of interest over the same period. Collectively, New York customers lost out on millions of dollars of interest compared to what they would have received with 360 Performance Savings accounts, while Capital One pocketed the difference.

Attorney General James alleges Capital One’s actions violate state and federal law by misleading customers about whether 360 Savings was Capital One’s only high-interest savings account, and about the interest rate for 360 Savings accounts. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Capital One in January over similar allegations, but voluntarily dropped its lawsuit, along with a slew of other lawsuits, after a change in leadership. The action brought by Attorney General James seeks to ensure that Capital One does not escape accountability, by seeking restitution and damages for all affected Capital One customers, disgorgement of profits Capital One made by illegally misleading its customers, and penalties.

Michigan Man Arrested and Charged with Attempting to Attack Military Base on Behalf of ISIS

 

A Melvindale man – and former member of the Michigan Army National Guard – was arrested after he attempted to carry out a plan to conduct a mass-shooting at a U.S. military base in Warren, Michigan, on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a foreign terrorist organization.

Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19, is charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and distributing information related to a destructive device.

“This defendant is charged with planning a deadly attack on a U.S. military base here at home for ISIS,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of law enforcement, we foiled the attack before lives were lost. We will not hesitate to bring the full force of the Department to find and prosecute those who seek to harm our men and women in the military and to protect all Americans.”

“ISIS is a brutal terrorist organization which seeks to kill Americans. Helping ISIS or any other terrorist organization prepare or carry out acts of violence is not only a reprehensible crime – it is a threat to our entire nation and way of life,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Our office will not tolerate such crimes or threats, and we will use the full weight of the law against anyone who engages in terrorism.”

“The defendant allegedly tried to carry out an attack on a military facility in support of ISIS, which was disrupted thanks to the good work of the FBI and our partners,” said Assistant Director Donald M. Holstead of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “The FBI is steadfast in our commitment to detect and stop terrorist plans aimed at the American homeland or at U.S. interests overseas.”

“The arrest of this former soldier is a sobering reminder of the importance of our counterintelligence efforts to identify and disrupt those who would seek to harm our nation,” said Brig. Gen. Rhett R. Cox, the commanding general of Army Counterintelligence Command. “I commend the tireless work of our special agents and FBI partners who worked together to investigate and apprehend this individual. We will continue to collaborate with our partners to prevent similar incidents in the future. We urge all soldiers to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to their chain of command, as the safety and security of our Army and our nation depends on our collective efforts to prevent insider threats.”

According to the complaint, Said informed two undercover law enforcement officers of a plan he had devised and formulated to conduct a mass-shooting at the U.S. Army’s Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) facility at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan. In April 2025, the two undercover officers indicated they intended to carry out Said’s plan at the direction of ISIS. In response, Said provided material assistance to the attack plan, including providing armor-piercing ammunition and magazines for the attack, flying his drone over TACOM to conduct operational reconnaissance, training the undercover employees on firearms and the construction of Molotov cocktails for use during the attack, and planning numerous details of the attack including how to enter TACOM and which building to target.

On May 13 – the scheduled day of the attack – Said was arrested after he traveled to an area near TACOM and launched his drone in support of the attack plan. He will make his initial court appearance today in the Eastern District of Michigan. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will be asking the court to hold Said in pretrial detention because of his danger to the community and the risk that he will flee.         

Based on the charges in the complaint, Said faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count if convicted.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Salzenstein for the Eastern District of Michigan and Trial Attorneys John Cella and Charles Kovats of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Second Former High-Ranking FDNY Official Sentenced To Prison For Role In Bribery Conspiracy

Jay Clayton, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ANTHONY SACCAVINO was sentenced to 36 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy to solicit and receive bribes in his role as the Chief of the New York City Fire Department (“FDNY”) Bureau of Fire Prevention (“BFP”).  SACCAVINO previously pled guilty on January 29, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman.  

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said: “Anthony Saccavino undermined the New York City Fire Department, an institution he swore to serve. Chief Saccavino led a pay-to-play bribery scheme that would offend the sensibilities of every hard-working New Yorker. Public officials who violate the public trust for financial gain will be pursued vigorously by our Office and our law enforcement partners.” 

According to the Indictment, plea agreement, and statements made in court:

From 2021 to 2023, SACCAVINO was the leader of a conspiracy to solicit and receive $190,000 in total bribe payments from a former FDNY firefighter named Henry Santiago, Jr. In exchange for those bribe payments, SACCAVINO and another high-ranking official at the FDNY, Brian Cordasco, used their authority within the BFP to improperly “expedite” BFP inspections and plan reviews for Santiago’s customers.  SACCAVINO personally profited $57,000 as part of this scheme.  To carry out this conspiracy, SACCAVINO lied to his BFP subordinates to justify otherwise improper expediting requests.  SACCAVINO also lied to law enforcement when interviewed about his involvement in the scheme.

If you believe you have information related to bribery, fraud, or any other illegal conduct by FDNY or BFP employees, please contact squad6complaint@doi.nyc.gov or (212) 825-2402. If you were involved in such conduct, please consider self-disclosing through the SDNY Whistleblower Pilot Program at USANYS.WBP@usdoj.gov.

In addition to the prison term, SACCAVINO, 61, of New York, New York, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay forfeiture of $57,000 and a fine of $150,000.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Department of Investigation.

DEC and DOH Release Drinking Water Source Protection Program Framework 2025 for Public Comment

 

Municipalities Developing Long-Term Protection Programs for Public Drinking Water Supply Sources

Public Comments Accepted through June 25, 2025

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Amanda Lefton and State Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner Dr. James McDonald announced the Drinking Water Source Protection Program Framework 2025 is available for public comment. The Framework is the principal document that acts as a guide for communities and technical assistance providers to draft and implement a plan that protects public drinking water sources for the long term.  

“The Drinking Water Source Protection Program is an example of how partnerships across all levels of government can empower communities to protect irreplaceable sources of drinking water,” said Acting DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton. “Releasing the Drinking Water Source Protection Program Framework 2025 for public comment is the final step in transitioning this program from a pilot to an established program that will continue to advance our state’s commitment to protecting water quality and providing clean drinking water for New Yorkers.” 

“From the source to the tap, New York State works with municipalities to ensure drinking water is safe, and the Drinking Water Source Protection Program is a great example of this collaboration,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. “In continuation of this State supported, locally led initiative, we encourage public review and comment on the framework that will serve to help protect public health.” 

The Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2) is a multi-agency initiative led by DEC and DOH in collaboration with the Departments of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) and State (DOS), empowering municipalities to take critical actions to improve and protect the environment and public drinking water sources, even before they are treated to supply safe potable water. 

The updated DWSP2 Framework incorporates information compiled over the last five years, including experience and feedback collected by technical assistance providers who worked directly with communities to develop and implement drinking water source protection plans. The Framework ensures the statewide program is implemented consistently across participating communities across New York State.

DWSP2 is open to all community public drinking water supplies in New York, regardless of size or source water type. As part of DWSP2, volunteer communities work with technical assistance providers to develop and implement a customized drinking water source protection program at no cost to the participating municipalities. The program offers a holistic and comprehensive approach that builds from established protection efforts.

Since launching in 2021, more than 100 New York municipalities have utilized the program, drafting 82 plans and working toward creating action-oriented, community-driven DWSP2 plans to protect drinking water sources. Additionally, 28 of the participating municipalities completed the plan development process and subsequently received state acceptance to move forward on implementing their plans. 

Municipalities participating in the DWSP2:

• Promote public health and safety;
• Support economic viability;
• Enhance environmental protection and recreational opportunities; and
• Strengthen community partnerships and collaboration.

The DWSP2 process provides updated source water maps, assessments of potential contaminant sources, and identifies effective methods to address potential contaminant sources.

DEC is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, May 28 at 2 p.m., to present the updated Framework, summarize feedback received and the information or resources included to improve the document and ultimately the overall program. The public comment period closes on June 25, 2025, at 4 p.m. Communities interested in viewing the Framework can access the latest version on DEC's website or contact source.water@dec.ny.gov.

New York's Commitment to Water Quality  

New York State continues to increase its nation-leading investments in water infrastructure. With $500 million allocated for clean water infrastructure in the recently Enacted 2025-26 State Budget, New York will have invested a record $6 billion in water infrastructure since 2017. 

Initiatives in Governor Hochul’s State of the State are also ensuring ongoing coordination with local governments and helping communities to leverage these investments. Governor Hochul announced $435 million in grants to 102 projects in November, featuring increased awards for wastewater projects for smaller, disadvantaged communities. The Governor also expanded the State Environmental Facilities Corporation’s (EFC) Community Assistance Teams to help small, rural and disadvantaged communities leverage this funding and address their clean water infrastructure needs. Any community needing assistance with water infrastructure projects is encouraged to contact EFC.