By Forum Staff
Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday announced the historic investments included in the Fiscal Year 2025 Enacted Budget which was passed by the Legislature last weekend.
The $237 billion budget makes investments in the people of New York without raising income taxes. It includes hundreds of new initiatives that will help fight crime, fix our mental health system, and build more housing so people can afford to live and thrive in New York.
Landmark Housing Deal
Hochul’s housing agenda includes:
- A landmark plan to build more housing in New York City, including establishing the new 485-x tax incentive to construct affordable housing, extending the 421-a tax incentive for six years for projects already in the pipeline, changing the outdated 12 FAR density cap, creating incentives to convert unused office space into affordable housing.
- New initiatives to spur housing creation statewide, including a new 421-p tax incentive to construct housing outside NYC, mandating that $650 million in discretionary funding goes to Pro-Housing Communities, allocating $500 million to build up to 15,000 new homes on state land, and incentives for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).
- Historic protections for tenants and homeowners, anti-price gouging measures for renters, stronger protections from evictions, and new enforcement and preventative measures to protect homeowners from deed theft, and reinforces the law that squatters are not tenants.
- More than $600 million in capital funding to support housing statewide.
- Combating housing discrimination against Section 8 voucher recipients and affordable housing providers.
Creating a Safer New York
The Budget makes major investments and reforms to improve public safety, crack down on organized retail theft, combat the rising tide of hate crimes, prevent gun violence and domestic violence, and reduce recidivism and improve reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals across New York State.
The FY 2025 Budget includes:
- $347 million to continue New York’s efforts to reduce and prevent gun violence.
- $40.2 million to crack down on retail theft by expanding enforcement and increasing penalties for offenders who assault retail workers and a $3,000 tax credit for business owners to invest in security resources.
- $35.8 million to prevent and prosecute crimes of domestic violence.
- $35 million to fight the rising tide of hate by expanding the number of offenses that can be prosecuted as hate crimes and investing in the Securing Communities Against Hate Grant that protects houses of worship, religious schools and other at-risk sites.
- $7.1 million to reduce recidivism and improve reentry into the workforce by providing more intensive supervision of individuals on parole, expanding transitional housing opportunities, expanding college programming to all state prisons, and providing transportation for visitors to and from State Correctional Facilities.
Improving Healthcare for All New Yorkers
Hochul’s FY 2025 Budget provides record funding to keep New Yorkers healthy, while also setting the Medicaid program on sustainable long-term fiscal footing. A historic $37 billion Medicaid investment maintains the State’s commitment to supporting the health care safety net and transforming the health care delivery system, while simultaneously making bold investments to expand access to services and support the workforce. The Budget includes support for the State’s recently approved Medicaid 1115 Waiver amendment, investing $7.5 billion in federal and state funding to promote health equity across the State.
The FY25 Budget also advances the governor’s priority of improving maternal and infant health care outcomes. New York will become the first state in the nation to expand access to prenatal care for pregnant women by granting up to 20 hours of leave for eligible employees to attend appointments, without impacting the existing twelve weeks of paid family leave.
The FY25 budget also includes bold new legislation to protect low-income New Yorkers from medical debt lawsuits by banning hospitals from suing patients earning less than 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, or $120,000 for a family of four. The legislation would also expand hospital financial assistance programs for low-income New Yorkers, limit the size of monthly payments and interest charged for medical debt and implement other protections to improve access to financial assistance and mitigate the deleterious effects of medical debt on New Yorkers.
The FY25 Budget advances critical health care priorities including:
- $3.2 billion to support distressed hospitals throughout New York State, inclusive of $550 million annually to support the transformation of New York’s safety net hospitals through a Medicaid Global Budget initiative supported by the 1115 Waiver.
- $825 million in temporary reimbursement increases for hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living programs, in addition to substantial rate increases over the previous two budgets.
- $315 million to provide health insurance subsidies for low to middle income individuals enrolled in Qualified Health Plans.
- $300 million and regulatory flexibilities to support a new Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program.
- $200 million in Medicaid savings through improved oversight and efficiency in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP).
- $148 million to increase rates for primary care delivered through New York’s innovative Patient-Centered Medical Homes model.
- $116 million in additional funding for various Aging and Public Health programs, including $27 million for DOH nutrition programs and $10 million dedicated to SOFA to finance additional unmet need services.
- $19.5 million in funding to support a 5 percent rate increase for in person services under the Early Intervention Program, as well as a 4 percent rate modifier for rural areas and underserved communities.
- The Enacted Budget authorizes the State to engage with the federal government to develop ways to maximize health care revenues that are available to support the Medicaid program, including a tax on Managed Care Organizations.
Tackling the Mental Health Crisis
For too long, New York’s mental health care system has suffered from gaps in care. Likewise, the COVID-19 pandemic left a lasting impact on many New Yorkers, exacerbating mental health challenges and highlighting the need for appropriate levels of care statewide.
To address the unmet mental health needs of many New Yorkers and building on Hochul’s $1 billion multi-year mental health plan, the FY 2025 Budget investments include:
- $84 million to increase reimbursement for services provided at certain sites treating mental health conditions.
- $55 million to establish 200 new inpatient psychiatric beds statewide, including three additional 25-bed Transition to Home Units (THUs).
- $90 million in opioid settlement funding to continue to lead the country in the disbursement of money received from settlement agreements with opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.
- $33 million to improve engagement with individuals living with mental illness and involved in the criminal justice system.
- $20 million for school-based mental health clinic satellites, making it easier for students and their families to access clinical services.
- $19 million to provide critical care to young people outside of school environments, including increasing resources for youth receiving treatment in the community and in residential settings.
- $2 million to increase mental health supports for first responders including suicide prevention efforts.
Shutting Down Illicit Cannabis Operations and Protecting the Legal Marketplace
Hochul pledged to end the proliferation of illicit cannabis operations, and the FY25 Budget includes reforms that empower the Office of Cannabis Management and localities to do just that.
The comprehensive plan includes:
- Authorizing OCM and localities to padlock illicit storefronts immediately following an inspection if they are selling illicit cannabis and pose an imminent threat to health and safety.
- Cracking down on landlords who turn a blind eye to the illegal activity under their purview.
- Launching a statewide task force to carry out civil enforcement to close illegal stores.
- Expanding local authority to allow cities and counties to adopt laws related to regulate unlicensed cannabis businesses.
- Granting New York City immediate enforcement powers to inspect, issue violations, and seize cannabis and padlock stores.
