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“These are unprecedented times for our State and only by working together will we make it through the uncharted territory we are all in,” added State Sen. Addabbo.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday signed the $177 billion Fiscal Year 2021 Enacted Budget.
“I understand we’re all consumed with the coronavirus situation but we have to be able to walk and chew gum,” Cuomo said.“We have to move forward at the same time and that’s why passing the budget and these pieces of legislation were important.”
The governor called this spending plan “extraordinary,” and praised his partners in the State Legislature for passing it under strenuous circumstances.
“The budget was difficult because the State has no money, and how do you do a budget when you can’t really forecast revenues?We came up with a somewhat novel budget that actually is calibrated to future revenues or losses. So we really start with an assumption and then what we’re saying is when we see how much revenue the state makes, how fast the economy comes back, what the expenses are, we’ll calibrate accordingly,” Cuomo explained. “This is a moment in history unlike any other, and government needs to function and deliver results for the people of this state now more than ever—and that’s exactly what we did with this budget. That the Legislature and the Executive got this budget done with all of these policy initiatives is an extraordinary feat, and I praise [Assembly] Speaker [Carl] Heastie, [Senate Majority] Leader [Andrea] Stewart-Cousins and every member of the Legislature. It would have been very easy to say, ‘Oh, this is an extraordinary year; let’s just do the bare minimum and go home.’ We did the opposite. We said there is a lot of need and there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, and we stepped up to the plate and we got it done. That it was done this year is really extraordinary.”
Highlights of the FY 2021 Enacted Budget include:
Paid Sick Leave: Businesses with five to 99 employees will provide their employees at least five days of job-protected paid sick leave per year and businesses with 100 employees or more will provide at least seven days of paid sick leave per year. Smaller businesses, with four or fewer employees, will guarantee five days of job-protected unpaid sick leave to their employees every year. Small businesses already providing paid sick leave will be able to so.
Photo Courtesy of Mike Groll/Office of the Governor
“This is a moment in history unlike any other, and government needs to function and deliver results for the people of this state now more than ever—and that’s exactly what we did with this budget,” Gov. Cuomo said.
The Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act: Named in memory of the Monsey, N.Y.,Hanukkah stabbing victim who died last Monday, this new law defines hate-fueled murder with the intent to cause mass casualties as an act of domestic terrorism with penalties equivalent to other acts of terrorism.
Closing the Out-of-State Gun Loophole: The budget includes legislation to prohibit individuals from obtaining a gun license who commit serious offenses out-of-state that would disqualify them from obtaining a gun license if committed in New York. This will provide greater consistency in New York’s licensing scheme and ensure individuals who are prohibited from purchasing a firearm are not able to do so, Cuomo noted. The Enacted Budget also includes a measure to require all state and local law enforcement agencies in the state to opt in to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives crime gun trace data-sharing program and submit crime guns recovered through the ATF’s eTrace system. Additionally, the Enacted Budget includes legislation to amend the Mental Hygiene Law to allow New York to share reports of individuals who are a danger to themselves or others with other states.
Prescription Drugs: The budget includes a three-part plan to lower prescription drug costs for all New Yorkers. The spending plan caps insulin co-payments at $100 per month for insured patients to help address the rising cost of insulin that has resulted in diabetes patients rationing, skipping doses and not filling prescriptions. The budget also establishes a commission of experts to study the feasibility and benefits of a Canadian drug-importation program and submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for review.
Middle Class Tax Cuts: This year’s Enacted Budget continues to lower Personal Income Tax rates for middle-class New Yorkers. In 2020, the third year of the multi-year tax cuts enacted in 2016, income tax rates have been lowered to 6.09 percent from 6.85 percentfor taxpayers in the $43,000-$161,550 income bracket, and to 6.41 percent in the $161,550-$323,200 income bracket. These cuts are expected to save 4.7 million New Yorkers over $1.8 billion this year. Furthermore, income tax rates will continue to drop to 5.5 percent for taxpayers in the $27,900-$161,550 tax bracket and 6 percent in the $161,550-$323,200 bracket. When the cuts are fully phased in, middle class taxpayers will have received an income tax rate cut up to 20 percent, amounting to a projected $4.2 billion in annual savings for six million filers by 2025. As the new rates phase in, they will be the State’s lowest middle-class tax rates in more than 70 years, Cuomo boasted.
Adjustments to 2019 Criminal Justice Reform Law: The budget clarifies the 2019 Criminal Justice Reform Law to make sure judges know all the options available to them with respect to non-monetary conditions for release; enhances the options upon which a judge can condition release, including mental health referrals and requirements to attend counseling; and it adds several offenses that can be bail eligible, including sex trafficking offenses, money laundering in support of terrorism in the 3rd and 4th degree, child pornography offenses, repeat offenders, and those who commit crimes resulting in death.
“This state budget faced us with extraordinary fiscal challenges, even before the coronavirus outbreak. To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused our State to lose roughly $10 billion in revenue, in addition to its previous $7 billion deficit, and we are not even close to realizing the actual total loss in its negative economic impact,” said State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach). “Tough budget decisions had to be made to minimize the funding cuts to healthcare, education and other services our people deserve, knowing that we can restore items when the State resumes its positive financial course.These are unprecedented times for our State and only by working together will we make it through the uncharted territory we are all in.”
