Governor Hochul Announces FY 2023 Budget Investments to Deliver for Long Island Families

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced regional investments of the FY 2023 budget to deliver for Long Island families. Governor Hochul's historic FY 2023 budget pairs bold vision with fiscal responsibility, investing in the long-term future of New York. Rebuilding the healthcare economy, building the education system of the future, reducing the tax burden for those who need it most, improving the state's transportation and housing infrastructure, combating climate change, creating jobs, and improving public safety and ethics in government are front and center in this blueprint to meet the opportunity to invest in New Yorkers.

"With our transformative $221 billion budget, we're showing that we can tackle the big issues facing New Yorkers, and I'm proud to announce historic investments that will make a real difference in people's lives on Long Island now and for years to come," Governor Hochul said. "From historic support for our schools and tax relief for middle-class New Yorkers, to the largest investment in infrastructure in State history - filling the potholes that plague our streets - this budget delivers for Long Islanders in a big way. Every New Yorker deserves a fair shot at achieving what I call the "New York Dream," and I look forward to seeing all the ways this budget will help build a better, fairer, and more inclusive New York State."

Regional highlights of the FY 2023 Budget specific to Long Island's communities include:

Local Government

• Provide Aid and Incentives to Municipalities. The Budget provides $26.2 million in general purpose aid to the region's local governments.
• Consolidate Local Governments to Create Taxpayer Savings. The Budget provides $1 million in savings for Long Island taxpayers residing in dissolved villages through the Citizen Empowerment Tax Credit (CETC) program.

Economic Development

• Long Island Investment Fund. The Budget includes $350 million to support capital investments for projects that support and grow the regional economy and enhance communities across Long Island.
• Offshore Wind. $500 million for the development of New York's offshore wind port infrastructure and related supply chain. Funding will supply the infrastructure needed to advance offshore wind industry, leveraging private capital to deliver more than $2 billion in economic activity while creating more than 2,000 green jobs.
• Cold Spring Harbor/Stony Brook AI Partnership. $50 million to support an artificial intelligence partnership between Cold Spring Harbor Lab and Stony Brook University.

Education

• Support Long Island Schools. New York State continues its strong commitment to education by providing additional funding to meet the needs of students, teachers, and schools amid the ongoing challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The FY 2023 Enacted Budget increases School Aid on Long Island by $457.6 million (12.7 percent), including a $406.7 million (17.1 percent) increase in Foundation Aid. This increase is largely driven by the second year of the three-year phase-in of full funding of the Foundation Aid formula.

Energy and Environment

• The FY23 Enacted Budget includes additional funding for the following State Park projects:
  • $5 million for Jones Beach East Bathhouse Design
  • $4 million for Bayard Cutting Arboretum Visitor Center
  • $300,000 for Montauk Downs Clubhouse Transformation
• The FY23 Enacted Budget includes additional funding for the following DEC project:
  • Lower Peconic River fishing access improvements off Route 25 in Riverhead. Improvements include a canoe portage with steps, boat slide, hand carry boat launch and parking lot improvements.
• $2.5 million for the Long Island Pine Barrens Commission, supported by the EPF.
• $4.5 million for Suffolk County and $5 million for Nassau County in Water Quality Protection Improvement Program funding, supported by the EPF.
• $1 million for the Center for Clean Water at Stony Brook, supported by the EPF.

Health

• Invest in Local Health Departments. The Enacted Budget includes $1.9 million in funding to increase the General Public Health Work (Article 6) base grants -- $885,000 for Nassau County and $970,000 for Suffolk County. The Enacted Budget also invests funding for all counties to cover a portion of fringe benefit costs for public health staff through State Aid reimbursement, which will help counties increase their staffing levels to meet public health demands.

Housing

• Neighborhood and Rural Preservation Program (NPP/ RPP). The Enacted Budget includes nearly $1 million for the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP) and Rural Preservation Program (RPP) to support community-based not-for-profit groups that provide housing assistance, community renewal activities, and rental subsidies in the Long Island region.
• Rural Rental Assistance Program (RRAP). The Executive provides rental assistance through the Rural Rental Assistance Program (RRAP) for more than 50 units of low-income housing for rural tenants on Long Island.

Mental Hygiene

• Support Addiction Treatment Services. The budget provides nearly $63 million to support addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention on Long Island. This funding will support a myriad of programs, including opioid treatment, residential treatment beds, outpatient treatment clinics, prevention programs, recovery community and outreach centers, a youth clubhouse, a problem gambling resource center, jail-based treatment, and one State-Operated Addiction Treatment Center. These programs provide individual and group counseling, medication-assisted treatment, educational services, case management, vocational assessment, job skills training, employment readiness, parenting skills, and social/community living skills.
• Veteran Peer-to-Peer Services Program. Named to honor the memory of a veteran who committed suicide, the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer-to-Peer Services Program offers a non-clinical support model by veterans to veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), suicidal ideations, and/or other mental health challenges. The budget will allocate approximately $370,000 to fund the program within the Long Island Region.

Revenue Actions and STAR

• Provide a Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit. The Budget creates a new property tax relief credit, the Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit, for eligible low- and middle-income households, as well as eligible senior households. Basic STAR exemption and credit beneficiaries with incomes below $250,000 and Enhanced STAR recipients are eligible for the property tax rebate where the benefit is a percentage of the homeowner's existing STAR benefit. The average benefit for Long Island homeowners will be about $1,290, providing relief to an estimated 494,000 property tax-paying households.
• Accelerate the Middle-Class Tax Cut. The Budget accelerates the phase-in of the Middle-Class Tax Cut by two years, fully implementing the cut beginning tax year 2023 instead of tax year 2025.
• Provide Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Noncustodial Parent EITC Bonus Payments. The Budget provides a one-time supplemental payment equal to 25 percent of the EITC or Noncustodial Parent EITC claimed for tax year 2021, provided the benefit is at least $25
• Provide an Empire State Child Credit (ESCC) Bonus Payment. The Budget provides a one-time supplemental payment of between 25 and 100 percent of the ESCC claimed for tax year 2021, provided the benefit is at least $25.

Transportation

• CHIPS Local Highway Aid Program: The Budget provides $49.6 million in funding for local roads and bridges on Long Island through the CHIPS program.
• PAVE NY Local Highway Aid Program: The Budget provides $13.7 million in funding for local roads on Long Island through the PAVE NY program.
• Extreme Winter Recovery (EWR): The Budget provides $9.4 million in funding for local roads and bridges through the EWR program.
• State Touring Routes (STR): The Budget provides $0.3 million in funding for local roads through the STR program.
• Pave our Potholes (POP): The Budget provides $9.2 million in funding for local roads through the POP program.
• Road and Bridge Improvements: The Budget includes funding for road and bridge projects in the Long Island region such as:
  • $6.5 million to perform bridge deck and steel repairs on the bridge that carries westbound Route 27 over Barnes Road in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County.
  • $9.9 million for pavement renewal along the Long Island Expressway, from Route 112 to Yaphank Avenue, in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County.
  • $14.8 million for pavement renewal along Northern Boulevard (Route 25A), from the Queens/Nassau County line to Old Northern Boulevard, from Forest Drive to Glen Cove Road and from Annandale Drive to the Nassau/Suffolk County line in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County and from the Nassau/Suffolk County line to Harbor Road (Route 108) in the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County.
• Transit Operating Assistance: The Budget provides $40.7 million in transit operating assistance to Suffolk County and $103.4 million to Nassau County. Each represents a 36% increase over the prior year. This region is also affected by MTA operations; the MTA will receive $6.6 billion in transit operating assistance.
• Non-MTA Transit Capital Assistance: The Budget provides a $35 million a year increase in non-MTA transit capital assistance, a portion of which benefits both Suffolk and Nassau County. The Budget also includes $20 million for the third year of a $100 million five-year capital program to support transit agencies' transition to electric buses, a portion of which benefits Suffolk County.

Senator Todd Kaminsky said, "Long Islanders deserve well-paved streets and a smooth drive. I was proud to work with my colleagues in the Legislature, and Governor Hochul, to secure record funding of $157 million in this year's state budget to repair nearly 500 miles of roads on Long Island and restore them to first-rate condition. Importantly, the more infrastructure funding we secure from Albany, the less local taxpayers are called upon to shoulder the burden."

Senator John E. Brooks said, "Representing the needs of Long Island is a responsibility not taken lightly, therefore I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish in the FY 2023 Budget. This effort has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support for struggling Long Island families in tax relief, education funding, and various other programs and services. I thank Governor Hochul for her unflinching support of Long Island and New York State as a whole; and I look forward to continuing our collective efforts as we work to ensure a better future for our citizens."

Senator Jim Gaughran said, "This year's State budget included record school aid and other key projects like $22 million in funding for Huntington Station homeowners to connect into sewer systems. These investments will benefit our children, our economy, our region's infrastructure, and the environment and I thank Governor Hochul for being a fierce champion for Long Island."

Senator Anna M. Kaplan said, "Long Islanders sent us to Albany to deliver results, and the budget we just finished does exactly that by addressing public safety, cutting taxes, and delivering record-breaking funding for our schools, roads, law enforcement, and healthcare. Thanks to the leadership of Governor Hochul and the partnership of my colleagues in the Senate Majority, Long Islanders will get real relief from high taxes and gas prices, our schools will be able to provide our kids the best education, and we'll be able to invest in the community services that help our neighbors and make our communities safer and stronger."

Senator Kevin Thomas said, "This year's state budget makes critical investments in our schools, our communities, and in efforts to accelerate our state's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. From historic funding for our schools, to repairing our roads, the top priority is to make a measurable improvement in the day-to-day lives of all New Yorkers. This budget makes meaningful and significant changes to our public safety laws, making it easier to prosecute gun trafficking and strengthening protections for victims of hate crimes and domestic violence. Critically, the budget includes middle-class tax relief and a gas tax holiday to help fight inflation and lessen the burden on hardworking families. I thank Governor Hochul and my colleagues in the legislature for working together to create a stronger, safer, more prosperous New York State.

Assemblymember Steven Englebright said, "I am delighted that the budget will provide tax relief for Long Islands overburdened homeowners. Providing relief at the gas pump, income tax cuts, and real property relief are all critical items. Additionally, record state aid for our local schools will help to hold down property taxes. I wish to thank Governor Hochul for fighting for these Long Island priorities."

Assemblymember Fred Thiele said, "Thanks to critical investments in relief for homeowners overburdened by high property taxes and a historic level of school aid funding that goes directly into the classroom, this year's enacted budget sets the stage for a stronger and more affordable Long Island for all. I'm proud that this budget delivers on our community's most pressing needs and will continue to do so for years to come."

Assemblymember Phil Ramos said, "After a challenging two plus years battling COVID-19, Long Island families are feeling the strain of rising prices of essential goods like groceries and gas. Providing much-needed relief to local families was one of my top budget priorities, and the state's final spending plan advances a bold cost-saving agenda. From helping New Yorkers keep more of their hard-earned money, to significantly boosting school aid and supporting vulnerable populations, the 2022-23 state budget puts working families first."

Assemblymember Michaelle Solages said, "This budget makes important investments in Long Island's regional economy and our social infrastructure. My colleagues in the Assembly Majority Long Island Delegation and I have focused on the basic needs of our communities. We have secured increased investments for our public school to help alleviate the burden on the local tax base, a homeowner tax rebate for property owners for residents, more money for childcare, and enhanced the Homeowner Protection program to help address foreclosures. These are just a number of the many achievements in this year's budget, and I thank Governor Hochul and the Senate Long Island Majority for their partnership in delivering for Long Islanders."

Assemblymember Taylor Darling said, "This year's budget negotiations for FY-2023 were tough. I am proud that in the end, my fellow colleagues and I were able to secure millions of dollars in funding. Our communities in Long Island face a range of issues that this budget addresses. The budget lines I am most proud of are the $457.6 million in increases to School Aid for our Long Island Students, support for community-based not for profits that provide housing assistance, community renewal activities, and rental subsidies in Long Island, and creating the Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit Providing Relief to an Estimated 494,000 Property Tax-Paying Households. It is clear that Governor Hochul prioritized our children and the hard-working people of Long Island. Ever Upward."

Assemblymember Judy Griffin said, "I am very proud that our new State Budget delivers for Long Island's families, providing accelerated tax relief while making critical investments in the future of the southwest Nassau County communities in the 21st Assembly District. Through the advocacy of the Long Island Delegation and willingness of Governor Hochul to focus on Long Island, we have ensured that our hard-working residents can save more in a time of global instability and provided much needed relief with a new gas tax holiday, accelerated middle-class tax cuts, homeowner property tax rebates, assistance to small landlords, and rental subsidies for families in apartments. Back-to-back years of record funding for education and environmental infrastructure will ensure that two of Long Island's great assets - phenomenal public schools and our abundant natural resources - will be there for the next generation and protect the value of most families' biggest asset: their homes. We are allocating millions for addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention to address the staggering opioid epidemic, as well as supporting our heroic veterans on Long Island by funding to the Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer-to-Peer Services Program to help with PTSD, addiction, and mental health issues. I thank Governor Hochul for being here today and for making Long Island a priority."