Earlier this month, under pressure from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed an additional $1.5 billion in funding for the New York City as part of 30-day amendments to her executive budget intended to help address the city\u2019s financial woes.<\/p>\n
Nearly a week later, Hochul approved an additional $150 million for upstate municipalities, and the difference has some upstate lawmakers gearing up for a budget fight.<\/p>\n
The additional funding came as Hochul has steadfastly resisted calls from Mamdani and other progressives to raise taxes on the wealthy to help the city close a large \u2014 but smaller than expected \u2014 $5.4 billion deficit, and two weeks after mayors from cities across the state descended on Albany to ask Hochul for more AIM funding.<\/p>\n
AIM stands for Aid to Municipalities, and the cash flow for those local governments had been stagnant for decades. Mayors from Yonkers, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo pleaded with state lawmakers in their “Tin Cup Day” budget testimony to go beyond the modest bumps in funding awarded as part of the past two budgets.<\/p>\n
The $150 million increase includes a tripling of those funds in the form of temporary municipal assistance, plus an additional $20 million for financially distressed municipalities, and a $30 million lifeline for the city of Buffalo after apparently persuasive testimony from Mayor Sean Ryan, promising the city will contribute its own efforts to addressing the shortfall.<\/p>\n
Even though the funding bump has been well received by many impacted mayors across the state, the breakdown has left some lawmakers representing Albany, Rochester and Syracuse with concerns ahead of state budget negotiations. One of the most vocal has been state Assemblymember John McDonald, who represents communities around Albany and was formerly mayor of the city of Cohoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s human nature, what about us? What about the rest of non-New York City?\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s try to move these numbers around so everyone feels like they\u2019re being treated fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n
While McDonald acknowledged that New York City is the state\u2019s economic driver, he doesn\u2019t feel the current breakdown is proportional and argues the downstate funding deserves more scrutiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it mean, what is it intended for so we can do as close to an apples-to-apples comparison?\u201d he said, adding that the city should also look at its own books. \u201cI know it\u2019s a new mayor; however, I know he also has some very experienced hands, so I would strongly encourage\u2014and I\u2019ve told our Ways and Means staff \u2014 let\u2019s take a deeper dive into what their financial challenges are. I don\u2019t want to see New York City fail, but I also don\u2019t want to see upstate cities fail.\u201d<\/p>\n
State Assemblymember Sarah Clark, of Rochester, agrees.<\/p>\n
She told Spectrum News 1 that Rochester\u2019s delegation of lawmakers in the Democratic majorities are preparing to join forces with other upstate members in pursuit of more AIM funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is a conversation and negotiation we\u2019re really going to have to have with the governor \u2014 this isn\u2019t the time to pick winners and losers across the state. We all need this, and we know our upstate cities and towns are a huge economic engine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a nuanced discussion. While the Big Apple gets plenty of special treatment, New York City doesn\u2019t receive any AIM funding at all.<\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s office indicated that local governments asking for more AIM funding have been heard, and that\u2019s what they would receive if this boost is approved in the final spending package due April 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cGov. Hochul wants all of New York\u2019s municipalities to succeed, which is why she is tripling the assistance available to cities, towns, and villages across New York State and providing an additional $20 million for financially distressed municipalities as part of her executive budget,\u201d a spokesperson told Spectrum News 1 in a statement. \u201cThis funding is crucial to keeping New Yorkers safe and allowing local leaders to continue providing the vital services their residents rely on\u2014and we look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this record-level funding for upstate municipalities.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the upper chamber, Albany-area state Sen. Pat Fahy channeled some of that nuance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAIM is clearly underfunded,\u201d she said. \u201cYes, here in upstate, just as with public transit, just as with our housing investments, we\u2019re always looking for some proportionality.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she also provided a reality check, calling Hochul\u2019s proposal a \u201chuge increase\u201d and pointing to New York City\u2019s massive annual budget and revenue provided to the state. She stressed that without revenue raisers, such as a PIT increase in NYC or increased revenue from mobile sports betting, there is little that can practically be done when federal uncertainty and Medicaid cuts have the state already on its toes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s those revenues that make up the bulk of the state revenue. Do I think we have an equal voice? It\u2019s all proportional. We have 100,000 residents; they have 8 million in New York City. But I am looking at a lot of revenues and a lot of costs right now because we\u2019re not getting the help we need from the feds,\u201d she said. \u201cDo I think we\u2019ll get a billion and a half as was just given to New York City? It\u2019s just unrealistic, we can\u2019t afford it. And by the way, if I had the choice, my focus is going to be on making sure people have health benefits, making sure we keep our utilities more affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Syracuse-area state Sen. Chris Ryan, who chairs the Cities 2 Committee, which focuses on issues facing cities outside of New York City, echoed McDonald and Clark in the Assembly, signaling he would support a push for more during budget talks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs chair of Cities 2, I regularly hear from municipalities across the state that are facing rising costs and real pressure to close budget gaps,” he said. “While I acknowledge New York City is facing its own immediate fiscal challenges, the state must place a greater emphasis on sustained investments in upstate communities that do not have access to the same level of resources or tax revenue as New York City. While the recent $150 million investment in upstate cities represents a positive step forward, it\u2019s not only disproportionate, but also a drop in the bucket compared to $1.5 billion. Upstate municipalities need a more permanent and predictable funding solution to ensure long-term stability and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Queens state Assemblymember Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas said she is extremely grateful for the extra $1.5 billion Hochul proposed and other initiatives included in the 30-day amendments, pointing to language ensuring counties in New York City are reimbursed for health care costs years after cuts under Andrew Cuomo.<\/p>\n
She acknowledged, though, that upstate cities are facing tremendous challenges, and suggested such widespread challenges lend credence to calls from Mamdani and others to hike taxes on the rich.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t take from one part to give to another; there are different needs throughout the state of New York. But places like Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse \u2014 they face high poverty levels, there are children going to bed hungry, and that\u2019s not right. We want to make sure every New Yorker has access to equitable resources,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are four bills in the tax-the-rich platform. I would argue that if we include those proposals in our budget, that will bring more dollars to make sure the whole state is made whole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republicans in the state\u2019s legislative minorities have their own concerns about the funding \u2014 insisting that the additional money to New York City is a bailout designed specifically to help Mamdani achieve his agenda while also questioning the implications for upstate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this month, under pressure from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed an additional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[109,116,3365,295,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,112,87,4281,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-143432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-app-local-state-politics","9":"tag-app-ny-state-of-politics","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-jack-arpey","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-news","15":"tag-new-york-state","16":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","17":"tag-new-york-state-news","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-ny-state-of-politics","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-state-budget","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}