Governor Kathy Hochul & legislative leaders strike a tentative deal on a new state budget. The Governor announced the agreement on the Fiscal 2026 Budget, that’s a month overdue, at the State Capitol on Monday. Lawmakers then spent the week looking over the budget bills. In total, the budget comes in at $254 billion, but the Governor says that could change depending on what happens in Washington in the coming weeks & months. Hochul and legislative leaders say the state may have to react to deep cuts from the federal government.
This week Hochul listed what she says are the highlights of the budget: A middle-class tax cut and inflation refund checks of up to 400-dollars to more than 8-million New Yorkers, it triples the size of the child tax credit up to a thousand dollars per child, it invests $340-million dollars for universal free school breakfast & lunch for all K-12 students, it will impose a bell-to-bell ban of cell phones in schools beginning this fall, a record $37-billion dollars in funding for schools. The budget also will include free community college for adults 25-to-55 who want to build careers in high demand fields such as healthcare, education, or manufacturing.
For the North Country, while it appears ORDA may receive millions of dollars to continue upgrades to the Olympic facilities in Lake Placid, the final budget may also include language that will allow the Governor to close up to 5 more state prisons, which is a concern in many North Country communities. Lawmakers have been scouring over the budget bills and a final vote is expected sometime next week.