The Assembly and Senate have released their one-house budget proposals. Each house will now pass a resolution, which will memorialize their one-house budget proposals. These proposals were compiled after the Assembly and Senate held weeks of joint budget hearings and scores of meetings with a variety of stakeholders, who weighed in on the proposals contained in the Governor’s proposed budget. Each one-house budget accepts, rejects or modifies the Governor’s budget proposals that were released in January and adds priority issues for each respective house.
As you may recall, the Governor’s proposed budget proposed spending $252 billion, a 1.7% increase over last year. The Assembly’s one-house budget proposal calls for spending of $257 billion, and the Senate’s one-house budget proposal calls for spending of $259 billion. While the spending levels are similar, the spending priorities are not identical as between the houses. The Assembly proposed creating two new higher tax brackets for wealthy New Yorkers that make more than $10 million and $100 million per year. The Senate is contemplating increased taxes on those making more than $5 million per year. In the past, the Governor has rejected increasing taxes on New Yorkers. Both houses accepted the Governor’s proposal to cut taxes for middle class New Yorkers.
One of the Governor’s signature budget proposals, the “Inflation Refund,” which would provide direct payments of $500 for families making less than $300,000 and $300 for individual taxpayers making less than $150,000 was accepted by the Assembly. The Senate accepted parts of this proposal but wants to limit the checks to seniors in New York. The Governor had also proposed extensive changes to the discovery laws, which both houses have rejected. The Governor also proposed changes to the involuntary commitment laws in New York. The Assembly also rejected these, while the Senate accepted the proposal with significant modifications. These criminal justice changes are a big priority for the Governor and debate over how to proceed on these issues could hold up the budget negotiations.
Now that the one-house budget bills have been released, budget negotiations will begin in earnest. The final budget is due by April 1. The Senate, Assembly and Governor have already begun meeting to hash out the differences between their budget proposals with the goal of arriving at a final agreed upon budget by the April 1 deadline.
While all parties involved have signaled that they hope to achieve an on-time budget, the past few years have resulted in the budget not being done by April 1. Last year, the final budget was passed on April 20. We will keep you posted on the budget developments and update you with any relevant information. We are in the process of digging through the one-house budgets now, and we will share any budget proposals of interest.
As always, please reach out to us with any questions or concerns.
