Saturday, March 30, 2013

CSEA'S SUMMARY OF THE NYS BUDGET 2013-14


Albany, N.Y.-- Both houses of the Legislature finished voting on the budget this week.

CSEA President Danny Donohue said that the Legislature showed “a much better approach than what Gov. Andrew Cuomo originally proposed,” but that New Yorkers are still seeing too many misplaced priorities.

Here is a quick summary of the budget.

Mental Health

Both the Assembly and the Senate stood strong with CSEA on giving us back our one year notice for closures, consolidations and mergers.

Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)

This year’s Executive Budget proposed expanding the ‘Close to Home’ initiative and would have resulted in the closure of all OCFS non-secure juvenile facilities. The Legislature rejected the expansion of the ‘Close to Home’ initiative, preserved the one-year downsizing and closure notification and the measure was removed from the budget.

SUNY Downstate


The Governor dug in and failed to provide necessary fiscal relief to SUNY Downstate hospital. Instead, the budget will allow SUNY the flexibility to enter into contracts without a competitive bid or request for proposals and requires the SUNY Chancellor to develop a fiscal viability plan for the facility. The plan must be approved by the Commissioner of Health and the Director of the Division of the Budget and the Chancellor must consult with labor in preparing the plan.

It is our intention to be actively involved in the preparation of this plan and to continue to work with community groups and the Brooklyn delegation to make sure any plan addresses our concerns. It is also our intention to seek funds for some parts of this plan as laid out in the Assembly one-house bill.

Revenue

$54 million is provided for stadium renovations for the Buffalo Bills and provides the Cuomo administration with a 12-seat luxury box in the stadium.

The budget provides a tax credit of $350 per year in the form of a check to families with children up to the age of 18 earning between $40,000 and $300,000 for three years beginning in 2014.

The ‘Millionaire’s Tax’ was extended for another three years.

Minimum Wage

Minimum wage will be increased to $9.00 an hour by 2016.

Tax breaks will be provided to businesses that hire youth between 16 and 19 years old at the minimum wage. This program will blunt the positive economic impact of increasing the minimum wage by discouraging employers from giving raises and keeping workers who are making above the minimum wage.

Please visit our website for CSEA’s full summary of the budget.

Click here for CSEA’s news release on the budget.


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