ALBANY, N.Y. \u2014 Lawmakers from the Rochester area, advocacy groups, and local organizations are sharing their reaction after the New York State Legislature finally passed a state budget, nearly eight weeks after its original deadline.<\/p>\n
The budget was originally due on April 1, but debates over policies on lawsuit reform, green energy goals, immigration, and more held up the budget.\u00a0You can read about what\u2019s in the budget here<\/a>.<\/p>\n State Senator Samra Brouk said the budget will make \u201cmeaningful investments for Rochester\u201d amid a time of federal funding cuts to some programs. Here\u2019s her statement:<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the federal administration cut funding for critical programs, New York State delivered a budget with meaningful investments for Rochester. We increased Foundation Aid funding by 2 percent for every school district in SD-55; received additional $20 million for anti-poverty funding for the City of Rochester; enacted protections for immigrants and accountability measures for ICE; passed substantial utility reforms; fought for a 2.7% targeted inflationary increase for the human services sector; won a $250k investment in the Doula expansion grant program to increase access to maternal care resources; and secured another historic state investment of $8 million for Daniel\u2019s Law pilot programs to help develop compassionate responses for individuals in crisis across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n Assembly Member Josh Jensen said the budget includes meaningful investments in communities, but continues a pattern of \u201cunsustainable spending growth\u201d. Here\u2019s his statement:<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday evening, the long-awaited 2026-27 New York State Budget finally came to a close. While the final budget included meaningful investments in areas like education and steps to roll back portions of the CLCPA, it also continues a pattern of unsustainable spending growth without truly addressing the affordability crisis facing New Yorkers. I have tremendous concern about the rate of government spending while residents are being priced out of their communities and small businesses are fighting to stay afloat. As a state government, we must take policy steps that prioritizes financial responsibility, lowers costs for families and creates an environment where people can afford to live, work and raise a family in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n State Senator Jeremy Cooney says the budget funds several projects specific to Monroe County, including $75 million towards the creation of High Falls State Park and $225 million toward the development of the surrounding neighborhoods. In a statement, he said:<\/p>\n \u201cThis budget was about making sure the roots of the Flower City continue growing strong to ensure a successful future for Rochesterians and our community as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n Reaction from local and state organizations<\/p>\n LeadingAge New York, an organization that represents hundreds of groups across the state that serve older adults, praised the budget for including funding for nonprofit nursing homes and aging services. The organization also expressed concerns over Medicaid reimbursement rates. The statement reads in part: <\/p>\n \u201cThe additional funding \u2014\u00a0including $480 million\u00a0for nursing homes, which is approximately\u00a0a\u00a06.4% increase in nursing home Medicaid\u00a0reimbursement, $20 million for assisted living\u00a0and the partial restoration of previous nursing home capital funding cuts \u2014 represents an important step toward stabilizing a struggling care system that millions of New Yorkers rely on.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u201cWhile appreciative,\u00a0we are compelled to express disappointment as\u00a0these investments must be viewed in the context of a long-term care system that\u00a0is in crisis due to\u00a0decades of underfunding. For more than 20 years, Medicaid reimbursement rates have failed to keep pace with the actual cost of care. From July 2007 to July 2025, nursing home costs increased by 55%, while Medicaid reimbursement rose by less than 15%. Home care and hospice providers are also experiencing Medicaid shortfalls but did not receive additional funding in the final budget. That widening gap has left providers across the state grappling with serious financial strain, persistent workforce shortages and mounting difficulty meeting the needs of older adults and their families.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The New York State Society of Physician Associates says it\u2019s disappointed that a physician associate modernization proposal was removed from the budget. Here\u2019s the statement:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are deeply disappointed that PA modernization was removed from the enacted FY2027 state budget. The measure, supported by Governor Hochul, would have taken a critical step forward \u2013 removing the outdated requirement for a supervising physician and allowing PAs to continue practicing autonomously to meet the state\u2019s growing patient demand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNew York cannot afford to underutilize more than 24,000 PAs. The need is urgent: the PA profession is growing rapidly while physicians are retiring faster than they can be replaced \u2013 with 1 in 5 physicians reporting plans to leave the healthcare workforce in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n The state budget includes $4 million for Garth Fagan Dance\u00a0to support a permanent home for the world-renowned dance company in downtown Rochester. Natalie Rogers-Cropper, Executive Director, Garth Fagan Dance,\u00a0said:<\/p>\n \u201cThis award will provide a new and improved facility for Garth Fagan Dance, and the Garth Fagan Dance School, that will expand access to dance and arts education for youth and emerging artists, increase rehearsal, performance, and community programming opportunities year round, support workforce development within the creative economy and most importantly, preserve and extend the legacy of one of the nation\u2019s most influential and prolific Black choreographers, Garth Fagan. Kudos to our beloved state of New York!\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a0New York State budget<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Rochester region<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0reaction from lawmakers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBANY, N.Y. \u2014 Lawmakers from the Rochester area, advocacy groups, and local organizations are sharing their reaction after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,43742,51,50,96353,96352],"class_list":["post-246704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-budget","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-reaction-from-lawmakers","tag-rochester-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246704","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=246704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}