Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled Thursday that changes to New York’s public school funding formula will not be included in this year’s forthcoming state budget, while vowing to continue pursuing the overhaul next year.
The state’s top executive also said the “end is near” when it comes to passing a final Fiscal Year 2025 spending plan, which is nearly a week past its April 1 deadline.
Hochul, during a Thursday afternoon news conference in the State Capital, said her proposal for changing the way the state distributes public school funding — known as Foundation Aid — will not be part of the yet-to-be finalized budget.
The plan would have seen school districts around the state receive far less funding than they anticipated for the coming school year, while eliminating a provision known as Hold Harmless that guarantees school districts at least as much money as the previous year, regardless of enrollment decreases.
The proposed alteration was one of a few major items holding up a timely budget, as both state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie were fiercely opposed to it.
The governor on April 4 stood by her bid to change the formula, but suggested it would be pushed off to next year and would include say from the state Senate and Assembly leaders.
“We talked about putting a process in place so that by this time next year, giving everybody the notice and warning that they all asked for, that there’ll be a different formula,” Hochul told reporters. “And just deciding with the leaders how that mechanism will work. But I think it’s going to put us in a much better place.”
However, Hochul did not mention the fate of a study Stewart-Cousins and Heastie pitched to assess the effectiveness of the current formula and how it should be altered.
The governor also noted that a final budget deal is close at hand as the state legislature moved to extend the current fiscal year budget again, this time through Monday, to keep employees paid and the government running. She blamed the late budget, the third since she took office in summer 2021, on having to hash out several thorny issues, while also facing scheduling conflicts with major religious holidays like Easter.
“Everybody’s rolling up their sleeves, ready to work through the weekend, Sunday and whatever it takes us next week with the religious holidays intervening,” she said. “It’s a little bit of a complication, but the end is near and that’s what I’m happy to report.”
Hochul also expressed confidence around reaching an accord on perhaps the biggest item holding up the budget: a housing reform package. She said that she and the legislative leaders have made “good progress” toward an agreement that both boosts new housing construction and affords tenants more protections.
So far, a deal has reportedly been stalled over questions around what a new affordable housing tax break for developers should look like, with labor leaders pushing for higher wages than the real estate industry initially offered. Developers say they need a new version of the expired 421-a tax incentive in order to build afforable units.
Additionally, there is the question of what shape tenant protections will take — whether or not they will resemble “Good Cause Eviction” legislation that caps rent increases and limits landlords’ ability to evict renters for any reason.
“I can’t force the private sector to build,” Hochul said. “They will not do it if the conditions are not right for them. So I have to look at that factor. I also want to get labor unions a shout at some of these jobs. These are good paying jobs for hard working men and women are labor. So that’s a priority. Also, I want to make sure that people are not abusing our tenants, focus on anti-gouging and what is reasonable for them to have to endure at a time when people are fleeing under siege with the cost of living being so high.”
