Speaker Heastie Announces SFY 2023-24 Budget Includes Provisions to Make New York More Affordable for Families and Invest in Moving Our State Forward

Speaker Carl Heastie and Ways and Means Committee Chair Helene E. Weinstein today announced the Enacted State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023-24 Budget makes critical investments to help make New York more affordable for families.

“The Assembly Majority is committed to combatting the rising cost of living and making New York more affordable place to live and raise a family,” Speaker Heastie said. “This budget will index the minimum wage to inflation, keep higher education within reach for New York’s students, make childcare more accessible, and invest in our transportation infrastructure and in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. It will have real impacts on the lives of New Yorkers.”

“Every year, our goal with the budget is to help New Yorkers thrive here in our state,” Assemblywoman Weinstein said. “This budget will help more families afford childcare, invest in education and prevent tuition increases at our public colleges and universities, and help us transition to using renewable energy. I'm proud to say that the budget we passed invests in New Yorkers.”

Raising the Minimum Wage

The Legislature accepts the extension of the effective date of the new system for calculating partial unemployment insurance benefits to April 1,2024. The Legislature provides scheduled increases to the minimum wage. In New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester the minimum wage will be $16.00 on and after January 1, 2024, $16.50 on and after January 1, 2025 and $17.00 on and after January 1, 2026. In the remainder of the state, the minimum wage will be $15.00 on and after January 1, 2024, $15.50 on and after January 1, 2025, and $16.00 on and after January 1, 2026. Beginning on January 1, 2027, these wages will be annually indexed to inflation.

Higher Education

Included in the budget is $1.38 billion in operating aid for State University of New York (SUNY) schools and $821.4 million in operating aid for City University of New York (CUNY) schools, and includes no tuition increases for New York State residents. It also includes $213 million for opportunity programs.

Education

The spending plan includes $34 billion in General Support for Public Schools (GSPS), an increase of $3 billion, or 9.4 percent over the 2022-23 school year (SY). The enacted budget also includes $24 billion to complete the phase in of the Foundation Aid formula. also includes $99.6 million in aid to public libraries.

Energy

Also included are provisions to phase out the use of fossil fuels in new buildings and invest in new renewable energy project to help New York State meet the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), including the phasing in requirements of electric construction of new buildings, establishing the Climate Action Fund and authorizing the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build renewable energy projects.

Transportation

The budget supports the financial stability of the MTA by adjusting the Payroll Mobility Tax for the largest businesses within New York City to 0.6 percent, which will generate approximately $1.1 billion. The spending plan makes critical investments in New York State’s infrastructure, including funding the second year of the five-year state Department of Transportation capital plan at $5.5 billion for roads, bridges, rail, aviation and non-MTA transit systems. The budget also includes $15 million to fund a zero-fare bus pilot program that will provide each of the five New York City boroughs with a free bus route.

Childcare

The approved budget make childcare more affordable for New York families by providing funding to expand State Child Care program eligibility to families earning up to 85 percent of the state median income. The budget also includes funding for Facilitated Enrollment programs to expand eligibility to families earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level for families who are otherwise ineligible for the state child care program.

Health

Included in the spending plan is $1.4 billion for distressed hospitals, Medicaid rate increases and wage increases for home health care workers. This includes is $53 million to increase home health care wages by $1.55 beginning January 1, 2024, with increases of $0.55 annually through 2026, and indexing wages thereafter based on the three-year average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W).

Criminal Justice

The spending plan also includes $170 million in total discovery funding, $40 million in funding for Aid to Defense, $10 million for expenses and services of state and local law enforcement associated with enforcing and investigation extreme risk protection orders, and $7.2 million for expenses and services of community safety and restorative justice programs. Additionally, the budget provides $3.3 million to support criminal justice programs including reentry programs, community dispute resolution centers, community-based organization, transitional housing, civil or criminal legal services and crime prevention programs, as well as $750k for the cost of conducting a study on missing Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) women and girls.