With a $260-billion state budget for 2027 representing a small increase from 2026, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she will continue funding for prior capital investment programs while adding dollars for housing construction, advanced manufacturing development, transportation, energy and other infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not an austerity budget,\u201d Hochul said in announcing the proposal Jan. 20. \u201cBut it is a disciplined one. We\u2019re continuing to invest in the core services New Yorkers rely on while keeping the growth of State Operating Funds at a responsible level.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She attributed steady state investment levels to uncertainty surrounding federal funding.<\/p>\n
Noting $25 million allotted to expanding the Metropolitan Transit Authority\u2019s Second Avenue Subway west across 125th Street in Manhattan and the ongoing estimated $15.8-billion Gateway Hudson Tunnel project from New Jersey to New York City, Hochul’s executive budget book cautions that the federal government\u2019s October 2025 funding freeze<\/a> \u201ccould negatively impact project schedules\u201d if it continues \u201cover a prolonged period.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposed budget expands state clean water infrastructure funding, with the governor allocating an additional $3.75 billion over five years for projects that include wastewater treatment. It also adds $340 million for state park projects, $50 million for modernizing the Jamaica Station transit hub in New York City, an added infusion of $100 million \u201cto support factory-built and modular construction technologies\u201d and $85 million \u201cto develop a semiconductor chip design center and four new quantum technology commercialization hubs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The budget arrived one week after the governor proffered changes to environmental permitting to accelerate housing and other projects in her Jan. 13 State of the State address. Under a newly introduced Let Them Build agenda, Hochul proposed amending the State Environmental Quality Review Act to exempt from review certain projects meeting local zoning rules and demonstrating a low environmental impact. These include buildings under a specified height and neighborhood density for New York City residential construction, and housing projects elsewhere in the state on \u201cpreviously disturbed land, connected to existing water and sewer systems and subject to additional unit caps.\u201d<\/p>\n Hochul\u2019s proposal also includes changes to the law’s classification for other projects, among them clean water and green infrastructure, public parks and \u201cnature-based storm water management\u201d all on previously developed or \u201cimproved\u201d land. She also intends to speed development of clean energy projects, including nuclear, by seeking changes to New York Power Authority and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority regulations.<\/p>\n