Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli (D-Syracuse) announced the Assembly’s budget proposal makes significant investments in New York’s higher education system and rejects the most harmful parts of the governor’s budget.

“We want to provide more than $34 million in aid to local community colleges over two years, which the governor seriously under funded,” stated Magnarelli. “In fact, over the next two years, the Assembly would have the state finally meet its obligation under New York law to provide local colleges with 33 percent in support. For Onondaga Community College, that would mean an additional $966,750 in funding.”

In total, the Assembly restores almost $320 million in state support to local colleges and universities. The Assembly’s budget proposal includes not only restoring full funding to community colleges throughout the state, but also:

• Rejects the governor’s tuition hike at SUNY, by adding $131 million in funding
• Increases overall operating aid to SUNY, to add 541 more SUNY faculty
• Provides increased funding for vital opportunity programs for students
• Restores $119 million in funding to TAP

“Central New York is home to several world-class learning institutions, but the problem families are facing is affording the cost of a college education,” said Magnarelli. “Our governor and his friends in Washington all seem to be on the wrong page. While the U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to slash federal funding for education loans, the governor proposed cutting the TAP here in New York for some of our most vulnerable students.”

During his tenure, the governor has increased tuition by 65 percent, allowed state support for community college funding to drop to the lowest it’s been in 30 years, and attempted to cut TAP nine separate times.

“If we fail to properly fund higher education it will have disastrous effects on our future,” stated Magnarelli. “In the coming weeks, I will continue to work in a bipartisan fashion to negotiate a fair, on-time budget that provides our students with the educational opportunities they deserve. The biggest road blocks to getting a college education should not be the political ambitions of one governor.”