The fight to include millions of dollars in the state budget for nontraditional workers is back. 

Lawmakers have proposed a $500 million fund in the next budget for unemployment benefits for workers typically excluded from traditional labor protections, and want to create a state tax for big technology companies for digital advertising services to pay for it.

The Unemployment Bridge Program would be for workers who make up the state economy, but are often out of the spotlight and ineligible for state or federal unemployment benefits — like undocumented New Yorkers, freelance workers, formerly incarcerated people and others.

"We will no longer accept the lie that there's not enough money to take care of all of us — not while billionaire corporations like Google and Amazon are let off the hook," said Thomas Kearney, executive director Capital Area Relief & Liberation. "It is time for big tech to pay their fair share."

The proposal would require technology companies to pay a few cents to the state for every digital advertisement and bring the fund to $750 million. Big tech companies often employ excluded workers, failing to give them benefits like unemployment insurance.

Hundreds of people rallied in Albany for the Legislature to include the fund in the next budget as thousands of migrants continue to arrive in New York from the northern and southern borders. 

Affected workers and their children, like 17-year-old Illiany Mejia Navarro, told stories about how the funding would pay for rent, food and other necessities during a crisis.

Mejia Navarro, of Chatham, recounted the financial struggle her immigrant parents endured when they lost their jobs in 2020 during the height of the pandemic.

"Since my parents are viable to the U.S., they have been working and paying their taxes and paying into an unemployment insurance system that exlcudes them," Mejia Navarro said.

Funding for excluded workers has been part of budget negotiations in Albany since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Legislature in 2021 included $2.1 billion for the initial Excluded Worker Fund that helped about 130,000 people — back when the state was flush with cash from federal pandemic aid.

Lawmakers who have fought against the fund, especially Republicans, argue it's inappropriate to use public funds that would benefit nontraditional workers like undocumented immigrants.

"People who live in New York City who are legal American citizens and legal residents of New York, who pay some of the most exorbitant taxes in the country — maybe even in the world if you live in the city of New York — they should be the priority," Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt said last month in response to $2.4 billion in Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget to assist migrants coming to the state.

But this election year, advocates say lawmakers need to know they're watching who will have their backs this budget cycle, and who won't -- including getting this program in the final budget.

Senate sponsor and Labor Committee chair Jessica Ramos said New York has more excluded workers than ever before amid skyrocketing costs of rent, food and utilities. 

"That's why when something goes wrong at work, they're laid off, we want to make sure they have a social safety net to depend on," Ramos said. "[So] all workers can pay their rent and continue to be able to feed their families."

Advocates and lawmakers have pushed for more since, but have not been successful. No budgets negotiated under Hochul have included funding for excluded workers. 

The governor's budgeted $2.4 billion to provide services and assist migrants and asylum seekers in the state does not include an iteration of the Excluded Workers Fund.