March 13, 2019

Last night the Senate released their legislative budget proposal. The Senate proposes a $1.2 billion increase in Foundation Aid over 2018-19.   The NYSSBA Governmental Relations team is working through the bills now but, upon initial review it appears that their proposal rejects some of the Executive's most damaging proposals, as the Assembly did, while adding several NYSSBA requested and supported initiatives.

Some of the highlights include:

Changes to Executive Proposal

• Rejecting the  proposal to redistribute Foundation Aid
• Rejecting the proposal to combine Expense Based Aids into a "Services Aid" proposal
• Rejecting changes in Building Aid calculation

NYSSBA Supported Adds

• Repealing the  mandate for all districts to report on building level budget proposals
• Increasing the BOCES DS Salary Cap
• Increasing the cap on reimbursable BOCES salary
• Providing targeting forgiveness for districts in jeopardy of losing transportation and building aid.

The Senate does however accept the Executive's proposal to make the Tax Cap permanent, without addressing any of the changes recommended by NYSSBA.

Assembly Budget Proposal Summary

NYSSBA's summary of the Assembly Budget proposal is now available. The Assembly also released additional details on their school aid proposal last night,  indicating their support for a $1.160 billion increase in Foundation Aid over 2018-19.

• NYSSBA Summary of the 2019-20 Assembly Budget
• Assembly 2019-20 Budget Summary

NYSSBA Governmental Relations will continue to work with both houses and the Executive to ensure that NYSSBA's voice is represented in the final budget.

​NYSSBA's Governmental Relations team will continue to report on these and other issues. For more information, visit our Key Issues Page.