ALBANY – State lawmakers approved New York’s 2018-2019 budget before midnight Friday, meeting the March 31 deadline to approve a spending package. The spending $168.3 billion plan received mixed reviews, though, with Democrat Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of Kingston saying it is “light on big ticket items for Upstate New York.”
The budget does close the $4.4 billion gap that was projected at the beginning of the year and rejects $1 billion in “onerous tax-and-fee increases proposed by the governor and billions more proposed by the Assembly,” said Republican Senator John Bonacic of Mount Hope.
Locally, Cahill said Ulster Community College will receive $2.3 million in funding to develop a fire training center, a proposal advanced by Ulster County Executive Michael Hein. Cahill also secured the commitment to Belleayre Mountain to receive sustained investments for important capital improvements.
Senator Susan Serino, a Hyde Park Republican, secured $1 million to combat Lyme and tick-borne diseases in the state.
Assemblyman Karl Brabenec, a Deerpark Republican, said this is “another year New York City politicians and special interests hijack our money in the form of increased spending and bloated government.”
It includes $250 million for the New York City Housing Authority to improve living conditions for tenants and provides half of the $836 million to make improvements and repairs to the New York City subway system.
