CapCon: What the Legislature wants in this year's state budget, CapCon Q&A with NYSUT

One-house budgets are out. We'll tell you where Hochul and lawmakers disagree on key issues.

Good afternoon — it’s Tuesday, and Plant a Flower Day.

TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2024

TODAY’S CAPCON: The Senate and Assembly have released their one-house budget proposals. We’ll tell you where they disagree with Gov. Kathy Hochul, and what they said. Plus, a CapCon Q&A with NYSUT’s Melinda Person.

🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? Yes.

☁️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Clouds, mid-30s New York City: Mostly clear, around 50 (National Weather Service)

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Hochul on Tuesday (Will Waldron/Times Union)

💰 State budget negotiations between Hochul and lawmakers officially kick off

💵 We now know more about where Democrats who control both chambers of the state Legislature disagree with Gov. Kathy HOCHUL on the budget proposal and policy agenda she presented in January.

Both the Senate and Assembly have now released their one-house budget proposals, rebutting Hochul’s preferred spending plan.

• Top lawmakers will now start negotiating big-ticket budget items with Hochul, including housing and state funding for school districts.

• But the clock is ticking: the budget is due on March 31, which also happens to be Easter Sunday.

“It all begins now,” Hochul said Tuesday. “Everything we need to have is on the table now.”

Both chambers are expected to approve their one-house budget plans this week, in what is mostly a symbolic measure to show where they stand on Hochul’s proposals, and what else they’d like to add.

From my experience, people who watch what happens at the Capitol like to know what each chamber wants in relation to Hochul, so today we’re going to do that.

• I’m going to break out the differences on a few of the top issues involved in this year’s budget.

• But I’ll try to branch out a bit more this week because there’s a lot to sift through.

Here’s what Hochul proposed, and where the Senate and Assembly came down, on key issues.

📝 School aid: There’s usually disagreement between the governor and the Legislature over how much state funding should go to school districts, but this year that fight is different.

Instead, the debate this year is over how the amount of aid is determined for each school district, and whether the state should cut aid for schools that have lost students.

Hochul: Hochul’s proposal would change the formula that determines how much state aid flows to school districts. That would mean lower aid, or aid cuts, for districts that have lost enrollment in recent years.

• She’s argued districts that have lost enrollment don’t need as much funding as they would receive under the current formula.

Senate: The Senate rejected that proposal in their one-house budget, instead preserving a rule called “hold harmless,” which has allowed school districts to receive at least as much state aid as they did the previous year.

• Instead, they want to set aside $1 million for a study on how the state could change how it doles out state aid, but there’s no deadline for that review.

Assembly: The Assembly also rejected Hochul’s proposal to change the formula in a way that would reduce school aid for districts. That’s not a surprise; Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie had hinted at that in February.

• They also want to set aside $1 million for a study on state aid funding. The funding would flow through the state Education Department, but it’s unclear if they’d do the study or contract it out.