New York leaders react to approved state budget

New York lawmakers have passed a $268 billion state budget for the 2027 fiscal year nearly two months after the deadline, with state leaders touting affordability measures while critics warn of rising costs.Gov. Kathy Hochul said the budget is designed to address New York’s affordability crisis through a series of initiatives ranging from healthcare investments to utility relief.“All of this adds up,” Hochul said. “It adds up to making a state that is not just desirable, but affordable.”The spending plan includes 10 separate bills covering issues such as healthcare, climate mandates and energy costs. Lawmakers also approved $1 billion for relief checks intended to help New Yorkers manage high utility bills.“When they start seeing those bills come in, they’re going to see this relief come in as well and know that someone, people in state government actually care about them,” Hochul said.Republican state Sen. Dan Stec criticized the budget in a statement, calling it “decidedly not a budget at its best.” Stec said New Yorkers are paying energy costs roughly 70% above the national average and argued Medicaid spending in the state is nearly 80% higher than the national average, which he called “unsustainable.”Meanwhile, Democratic Assemblyman Michael Cashman said there are portions of the budget he disagrees with, but praised lawmakers for including funding for several North Country priorities.Both Stec and Cashman highlighted the allocation of $12.5 million to repair Tupper Lake’s water system, additional protections for corrections officers and a pause on the state’s electric school bus mandate.Robert Lowry, deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, said the enacted budget delays by five years deadlines requiring schools to purchase and operate only zero-emission buses.“So what the enacted budget does is push back, by five years, both deadlines — the deadlines to begin purchasing all zero-emission buses and the deadline to use only zero-emission buses,” Lowry said.Lowry said the high cost of electric buses, limited federal funding and concerns about charging infrastructure in rural regions made the state’s original 2035 all-electric bus goal unrealistic for many communities, particularly in the North Country.“For just some parts of the state, it’s not realistic to expect that all bus routes would be covered by zero-emission buses,” he said.

New York lawmakers have passed a $268 billion state budget for the 2027 fiscal year nearly two months after the deadline, with state leaders touting affordability measures while critics warn of rising costs.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said the budget is designed to address New York’s affordability crisis through a series of initiatives ranging from healthcare investments to utility relief.

“All of this adds up,” Hochul said. “It adds up to making a state that is not just desirable, but affordable.”

The spending plan includes 10 separate bills covering issues such as healthcare, climate mandates and energy costs. Lawmakers also approved $1 billion for relief checks intended to help New Yorkers manage high utility bills.

“When they start seeing those bills come in, they’re going to see this relief come in as well and know that someone, people in state government actually care about them,” Hochul said.

Republican state Sen. Dan Stec criticized the budget in a statement, calling it “decidedly not a budget at its best.” Stec said New Yorkers are paying energy costs roughly 70% above the national average and argued Medicaid spending in the state is nearly 80% higher than the national average, which he called “unsustainable.”

Meanwhile, Democratic Assemblyman Michael Cashman said there are portions of the budget he disagrees with, but praised lawmakers for including funding for several North Country priorities.

Both Stec and Cashman highlighted the allocation of $12.5 million to repair Tupper Lake’s water system, additional protections for corrections officers and a pause on the state’s electric school bus mandate.

Robert Lowry, deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, said the enacted budget delays by five years deadlines requiring schools to purchase and operate only zero-emission buses.

“So what the enacted budget does is push back, by five years, both deadlines — the deadlines to begin purchasing all zero-emission buses and the deadline to use only zero-emission buses,” Lowry said.

Lowry said the high cost of electric buses, limited federal funding and concerns about charging infrastructure in rural regions made the state’s original 2035 all-electric bus goal unrealistic for many communities, particularly in the North Country.

“For just some parts of the state, it’s not realistic to expect that all bus routes would be covered by zero-emission buses,” he said.