Albany, N.Y. - Governor Kathy Hochul putting some numbers to her proposals today, that she laid out in her state of the state address.
She started off with some good news on the COVID front. COVID cases in the state are down 75 percent from early January when cases peaked during winter surge fueled by Omicron.
Regarding the budget, Hochul said "We must pass a bold agenda that'll do more than just help us recover from this crisis."
She announced record aid to education, biggest capital program in state history, and a huge amount of money to embattled health care industry.
Governor Hochul said she is declaring war on jarring pot holes in roads. She said her budget will provide local governments with more state funding to turn "pot holes into non-holes." She's calling it Operation POP, "Pave Our Potholes"
Hochul said "This is an extraordinary time and it will be met with extraordinary solutions".
Below are some of the items in Governor Hochul's budget.
The budget as proposed is a $216.3 billion dollar budget. Spending would increase by $3.1 billion over the current year budget.
-$31.2 Billion in School aid, an increase of $2.1 Billion over last year
-$2 Billion in Pandemic relief funds
-$1.2 Billion in bonuses for health care workers
-$2.2 Billion in property tax relief
-$1.2 billion for bonuses for health care/frontline workers
-$350 Million for pandemic relief for businesses and theater/musical arts
-$1 Billion to enlarge the DOT capital plan over three years
-$1.5 billion in SUNY and CUNY funding over the next 5 years
-$224 Million for gun violence prevention.
-$400 Million multi-year investment in opioid addiction services
-$25 Billion five-year plan to create and preserve 100,000 units of affordable housing
-$4 Billion green environmental bond act and $500 Million for offshore wind energy projects
- Bringing state rainy day fund up to 15% of overall operating spending in next few years.