- New York lawmakers are expected to soon pass a series of proposals containing a $237 billion budget, about three weeks after such a plan was originally due.
- The budget’s housing deal, a major point of contention for Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, was one of the most contentious issues in drafting a proposal.
- “This is a huge deal for New Yorkers,” Hochul said of the proposed stimulus system outlined in the budget.
New York State lawmakers are on the verge of passing a $237 billion budget that includes sweeping plans to expand housing construction, shut down unlicensed cannabis storefronts and help manage the city’s migrant crisis.
A set of proposals is expected to pass the Legislature late Friday and potentially over the weekend, nearly three weeks after the budget is due.
State Governors and Leaders Senate and Assembly Considered a myriad of political and business demands during their conversations behind doors. They also faced a cyberattack that temporarily closed the state’s bill drafting office just as the legislation began flowing.
New York Legislature hit by cyber attack
The housing deal, the crown jewel for Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, was the most controversial issue of the spending plan.
The goal is to tackle one of the state’s most pressing problems: the housing crisis in New York City, where supply is in short supply and prices are sky-high. To do this, Hochul turned to a familiar idea: tax breaks for developers who agree to include below-market-rate apartments in new buildings.
New York first offered tax incentives to building developers in the 1970s when the city was in dire financial straits, then more recently expanded buildings to offer some subsidized apartments to qualify for the program. A requirement arose, known as 421-A.
Incentives have always been controversial. Critics criticize this as a gift to developers, who in turn respond that the cost of building in the city makes it unprofitable to do so. Opponents also say it cost the city a lot of money: about $1.8 billion in its final fiscal years.
As for its effectiveness, a report by the Furman Center, a housing and urban policy research group at New York University, found that 68% percent of the more than 117,000 housing units built between 2010 and 2020 benefited from the program.
State lawmakers let the 421-A tax break expire in 2022, after lawmakers in the state Legislature defeated Hochul’s effort to adjust the program.
The New York State Senate meets in the Senate Chamber on the opening day of the legislative session at the state Capitol in Albany, NY, on January 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
This year, the plan sought to revive tax incentives while also taking into account the interests of labor unions fighting for pay standards and progressives who wanted sharper rent increases and stronger protections against evictions for longtime tenants.
The final product is called 485-x. And although formal budget language has not yet been released, officials have said it includes tax breaks for developers if they rent a certain percentage of their apartments below market rates, wage deals for construction workers and tenants. Includes security package for.
The state will also offer tax incentives for converting vacant office space into apartments and set aside a lot of money to build apartments on state-owned land, as part of a larger strategy to jump-start housing supply.
“This is a big deal for New Yorkers,” Hochul said in an interview on Spectrum News NY1 this week.
Hochul has presented the agreement as a major legislative victory on a serious problem, especially after his prior plans to boost manufacturing in the state failed in the State House. It was also an important moment of compromise with progressive Democrats at a critical time for his party.
In a few months, New York is going to be a congressional battleground where the races will be held of new york city Suburban districts may decide which party controls the House. Hochul, who has taken a more prominent role in her party’s messaging strategy, has appeared eager to carry Democratic political victories into the campaign season, and has already begun to publicly tout her budget victory.
The governor also pushed legislation on other headline-grabbing issues, including how to handle the large number of international migrants who have overwhelmed New York City homeless shelters. Others include concerns of retail theft, which has resulted in burdensome security measures at many stores, and the unlicensed cannabis storefronts that have become ubiquitous in the city.
Over the objections of progressives, Hochul carried a measure to increase criminal penalties for assaulting retail workers, although at the bargaining table she agreed to make the crime a Class E felony rather than the more stringent felony classification previously proposed.
The budget also includes $40 million to establish dedicated law enforcement teams to combat organized retail theft and a $5 million tax credit for small businesses to install security measures.
On illegal marijuana shops, a measure is set out in the budget that will allow local law enforcement to more easily shut down unlicensed shops. The move is aimed at solving bureaucratic problems that have embarrassingly hampered government efforts to shut down the thousands of illegal retailers who operate in shiny storefronts on every street corner in New York City.
According to another proposal from the governor’s office, the state would also spend $2.4 billion to provide shelter services, legal aid and health care to migrants, among other things.
Click here to get the Fox News app
The budget, made up of several dense pieces of legislation, has been slowly introduced in incremental steps this week and is expected to be finalized in a set of votes late Friday and potentially over the weekend.
