Assemblyman Al Stirpe (D-Cicero) said that the 2016-17 state budget will strengthen our community by investing in our schools and workforce, while also providing much-needed tax relief for middle-class families.

“This year’s state budget reflects our commitment to making Central New York a better place to live, work and raise a family,” said Stirpe. “I fought for the issues that truly matter to our community, including increased education aid and investment in infrastructure and economic development, while holding down spending so that we can continue on the path to economic recovery.”

Investing in public education

The final state budget provides a total of $24.7 billion in education aid, an increase of $1.4 billion over last year, and includes a $627 million increase in Foundation Aid and a full elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA). Schools in the 127th Assembly District will see an increase of more than $16 million over last year.

The state budget also rejects the governor’s proposed tuition hikes for New York’s public colleges and, instead, provides additional aid to SUNY, while freezing the price of tuition for one year. This funding will make it possible for our state’s public colleges and universities to continue providing students with a high-quality education at an affordable price, noted Stirpe.

In addition, the budget includes $400,000 for On Point for College to improve access to higher education for low-income youth in Central New York. On Point provides training and mentoring services to help students get into college, succeed while they’re there and find employment opportunities after graduation.

Further, the budget also includes a total of $200,000 in funding to support the New Innovation Tech School Initiative at Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES, along with $100,000 for SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) to continue their work on deregulation and increased blight resistant seedling production of the American Chestnut Tree. And, $18.6 million in much-needed funding is restored for SUNY Hospitals.

“Providing the best possible education for our children means supporting them every step of the way,” said Stirpe. “The state budget does this by giving kids an early head start to learning, fully funding our schools and improving access to higher education.”

Rebuilding our infrastructure

The budget increases funding for the Consolidated Highway Improvement Program (CHIPs) for a total of $540 million. CHIPs funding is used to help fix roads and bridges across the state which are in dire need of repair. To further improve transportation infrastructure, the budget increases funding for the Department of Transportation by over $27 billion, creating parity with the MTA.

The budget also provides $200 million in funding to make necessary upgrades to local water and sewer infrastructure projects.

“The future and economic growth of our state depends on the sustainable investments we make in infrastructure today,” said Stirpe. “This funding will go a long way in not only ensuring our families have safe roads and bridges to travel on and clean, healthy water to drink, but will also create good jobs.”

Providing for families

The budget implements a comprehensive paid family leave program, requiring employers to offer workers a paid family leave benefit that, when fully phased-in, would cover up to two-thirds of their salary – capped at 67 percent of the state’s average weekly wage – and guarantee job security during the absence. Beginning in 2018, workers would be eligible for 8 weeks of paid time off. That amount would increase to 10 weeks in 2019 and 12 weeks in 2021.

“For too long, working parents have been forced to choose between caring for their loved ones and making ends meet. That painful decision ends with this year’s state budget,” said Stirpe. “By including a paid family leave policy, we are making it easier for working parents to balance their work and family lives, while maintaining their economic security.”

In addition, the budget includes a gradual increase in the minimum wage for upstate New York, reaching $12.50 per hour after five years. To offset increased costs resulting from the higher wage, the budget also includes provisions to assist direct care providers and creates a farm workforce retention credit for agricultural businesses.

“The minimum wage increase included in the state budget strikes a necessary balance that ensures all workers are paid a fair, livable wage, while also providing crucial support to help vital industries afford it,” said Stirpe. “I’m confident that the compromise we’ve reached will be a win for everyone.”

Finally, this budget provides a tax cut for joint filers making below $300,000 a year, offering real tax relief for thousands of people across Central New York. Cutting taxes will ensure our state remains an attractive place for families to put down roots and businesses to set up shop, noted Stirpe.