Budget negotiations continue to loom as Albany has blown past the April 1 deadline to approve a budget. Governor Kathy Hochul (D) submitted her $233 billion executive budget in January, which was immediately met with criticism from both sides of the aisle, namely regarding her plans to cut state-aid for school districts and create a new formula to determine annual aid relative to enrollment fluctuations.
Last year, the budget was not finalized until early May due to intraparty fighting between Hochul and her attempts at amending the controversial bail reform laws and the progressive wing of the party not budging on the matter.
Such topics are still of debate, but Senate Republicans are hoping that at-large problems facing New York State are addressed in the record-sized budget, especially in the forms of public safety and affordability.
Long Island Senators held a press conference at the Perry Duryea Building in Hauppauge last Friday morning.
Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) discussed the new heights the public safety crisis has reached, with the combined dysfunction from both the migrant and squatting crises.
“This has become an epidemic,” said Palumbo. “We had a migrant from Venezuela sending videos telling other migrants who take advantage of our squatters’ rights laws.”
Palumbo also said that a solution to the housing crisis is to crack down on ineligible residents from utilizing affordable housing.
“We have people making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, living in rent-stabilized apartments in New York City, many of them paying less than a thousand dollars a month,” said Palumbo.
Senator Mario Mattera (R-St. James) said that “dysfunctional government has worsened” with the new budget proposals. Mattera, whose background is in construction and plumbing, railed against initiatives to ban natural gas and propane in new buildings of certain heights, part of a larger plan to eventually phase out such fuels altogether.
“In this budget, the Democrats continue to attack our ratepayers and our energy choices with mandates, not goals,” said Mattera. “They are telling our residents that they should not have natural gas, coal, or propane in their homes or buildings. It’s a mandate that everything will have to be electric.”
Mattera also criticized the attempts of Hochul and Albany Democrats at removing the “100 foot rule,” a rule dating back to 1981 that requires energy companies to connect any new business or home to its gas line if the line is within 100 feet of the structure and if the customer wants the hookup. The connection is provided at no cost to the new customer and the cost is distributed among ratepayers.
“It will make it so costly that the homeowners or businesses will not be able to afford the construction. They will not be able to afford that main to go into the house because now they’re going to have to pay for it,” says Mattera. “This is an attack on all New Yorkers; the government wants to take away your energy choices with mandates. This is one more step in the war on fuel choices that will cost our residents too much and cost our workers their jobs.
Mattera echoed one of his famous soundbites in response to mandates: “We need a plan, not a ban.”
The proposal stipulates that by 2025, no natural gas or propane will be allowed in homes buildings six stories or under. By 2029, gas or propane appliances will not be able to be replaced.
“Stores won’t be able to sell any of this equipment, and we’re going to have New Yorkers go to bordering states to buy equipment,” said Mattera. “The other side says it’s just a cost of doing business. That’s totally unacceptable. In my union career, I always created jobs.”
Mattera also said that at least half of electric energy is produced by fossil fuel plants in neighboring states.
Senator Alexis Weik (R-Sayville) discussed the ongoing controversies regarding school aid that has still not been settled, even as school districts are presently in the process of crafting their budgets.
“The fact that we have a late budget causes so many problems and one of the things that the one-party rule in Albany forgets is that our school districts are trying to put their own budgets together right now,” said Weik. “It’s really important that they have accurate information that they can run with, whether or not they’re going to be laying off teachers or cutting programs. These are important topics, not just for them, but for families here on Long Island.”
Weik, who is a member of the Senate Education Committee, also discussed the electric school bus mandate.
“Schools are suffering from so many different issues right now, and they’re being buried in debt. We have an electric bus mandate that’s coming up very quickly. It’s costing millions and millions of dollars for every single school district. We don’t have the grid for it,” said Weik. “We’re seeing so many problems with the battery storage facilities. We need Albany to press pause on this mandate for a short period of time, because we have no plans, no infrastructure, there’s no possible way to carry this out.”
Weik also said to consider the two years of learning loss due to the COVID-19 Pandemic when the topic of reforming and cutting school aid surfaces.
“This is a critical moment to make sure that we’re fully funding our school districts so that our students have the opportunity to catch up,” said Weik. We need for them [Albany Democrats] to remember that in this year’s budget, not only do they have to meet the goal they put in last year by fully funding Foundation Aid, but they need to hold a 3% increase for the save harmless [provision] of school districts in order to not cut programs and lose teachers.”
The safe harmless, or hold harmless, provision ensures that districts don’t see decreases in Foundation Aid funding compared to the previous year. Governor Hochul’s approach to reworking the formula takes into account inflation rates from the early-to-mid 2010s, when rates were far lower than they are now. Critics say that the Governor’s proposal does not accurately reflect current needs and economic uncertainty.
Weik says that until a budget is finalized, superintendents in her district are telling her they are preparing for the “worst-case scenario,” in which they fire teachers and cut programs until a budget determines if they can rehire and reinstate.
Senator Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) discussed the need to fix Tier 6 retirement benefits in the budget.
“It was a bill that was passed in 2012 that waters down the retirement pension for our public employees. It was sold as a bill that saved the pension system. What it’s turned into is an actual recruitment and retention nightmare,” said Murray.
Tier 6 is a level of pension benefits for public sector employees. Tier 6 members are vested after five years of service and are entitled to retirement benefits even if they leave public employment before retirement age. Most Tier 6 members are eligible for benefits at 63, but can choose to retire early at 55 with reduced benefits. Benefit amounts are based on retirement plans, service credit, final average earnings, and age.
Murray says that critics of reworking Tier 6 pension benefits are concerned about the cost passed on to taxpayers.
“You know what they don’t mention? They don’t mention the cost to taxpayers right now,” said Murray. The MTA just had a record year of $1.42 billion in overtime payments. We have workforce decreases all the way around; there’s a shortage. The only way we can fill those hours of serving the market is overtime, and it’s driving up costs. State agencies’ municipal employees were paid $1.36 billion in overtime last year.”
Murray says that with all costs added, New York spent over $4 billion in overtime payments, a bill footed by the taxpayer.
“All that because we can’t cut [work] over to the public sector,” said Murray. “There’s no more incentive to come into the public sector. I spent over twenty-five years working in hiring and recruiting, and it was well known that if you wanted a good salary, more flexibility, better income, and raises, you go into the private sector. But if you have the solid retirements and health care benefits, you’ll forgo the big salary for the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Senator Steve Rhoads (R-Bellmore) said that New York doesn’t just lead the nation in highest taxes, but also in outward migration.
“It’s not because people don’t want to stay here, but people can’t afford to stay here,” said Rhoads. “And while we’re talking about the context of another late budget, where you would think that the three people that are in a room, all of the same political party, would be able to figure out how to move the budget forward quicker, they seem to be having a battle of who can tax more, how much more we can make it difficult for New Yorkers to afford to stay here in New York.”
Rhoads also mentioned that $2.4 billion will be directed to combat the State’s “self-inflicted” migrant crisis if the budget passes as is. Rhoads says it not only diverts State money from taxpayers and citizens, but also decreases public safety.
“We have seen stories about migrants committing crimes, panhandling, making lives worse and less safe. It affects housing. The 200,000 migrants now in New York City is only exacerbating the housing crisis. We are probably one of the most compassionate states there is, but there has to be a limit to our generosity, because at some point in time, generosity turns to stupidity, and we are well past that point.”
Senator Jack Martins (R-Great Neck) said the budget does not prioritize any of “our priorities here on Long Island.” Martins discussed affordable housing and that New York can deliver an adequate supply of affordable housing if “affordable housing is made accessible to people who need it rather than protecting people who are not eligible for it.”
