The legislature left Albany today to head home to their districts, following conclusion of this week’s legislative session. Prior to departing, they passed the first state budget bill – funding the state’s debt service obligations. This bill is consistently passed prior to the April 1 state budget deadline. While its passage represents the first official step of state budget completion, all indications suggest that lawmakers are not close to a full budget agreement. State and New York City revenue raisers, environmental and energy goal changes and public pension reform remain as some high-profile items yet to be resolved. Education has not been a notable topic of debate so far.
Next week’s calendar, and that of early April, will make it very difficult for all sides to come to agreement on the state budget before the April 1 deadline. The legislature is scheduled to be in session in Albany on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. After Wednesday, the current session calendar has the legislature scheduled to be off until Monday, April 20. This intentionally coincides with Passover beginning Wednesday evening and Easter following soon after. It is not yet clear if, or for how long, the legislature would be away from Albany during this time if a budget deal is not reached.
Comptroller DiNapoli recently informed Gov. Hochul that if a state budget is not adopted by March 31 at noon, a short-term extender would be necessary to meet payroll obligations for nearly 60,000 state employees.
While we will continue to stress the importance of a state budget that appropriately and effectively supports our schools and students, we will also make sure lawmakers understand that school districts must adopt their budget proposals by late April, prior to the public voting in mid-May, and that having reliable school aid figures is a critical part of that process. Last year’s state budget was finalized on May 10.
Advocate For Your School Community!
As we approach the state’s April 1st budget deadline, NYSSBA’s Governmental Relations team is continuing our work at the State Capitol. We have shared our final budget priorities with all state legislators and are highlighting issues relevant to individual legislators as we meet with them.
For additional background, we have produced brief videos on three key state budget issues. The video topics are Foundation Aid, universal prekindergarten and zero-emission buses. Each video overviews where the Governor, Senate and Assembly stands on the particular issue and summarizes NYSSBA’s advocacy positions.
You can find the videos here.
At the end of each video, we call on our members – you – to join us in taking action via our email campaign. We have included issues related to both one house budgets and allowed editing capabilities to allow you to reflect the needs of your specific districts and BOCES. We encourage you to send our Take Action email to the Governor and your state legislators, so that your elected officials know the state budget issues that are important to you and your schools.
NYSSBA Joins Partners on Zero-Emission Bus Letter
This week, NYSSBA joined our partners at ASBO-NY, NYSCOSS and BOCES of NYS in issuing an open letter to the legislature, continuing our call for substantial reforms to the zero-emission bus (ZEB) mandate. The letter focuses on recent comments made by Gov. Hochul with regard to the challenges associated with the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA), noting that many of those same barriers and costs apply to the zero-emission bus transition. We stressed that any changes or delays to the CLCPA should also apply to the ZEB mandate.
You can read that letter here.