New York state’s health commissioner on Thursday praised Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to provide free meals to students across the state as beneficial to both children’s health and families’ wallets.

“We all need food, and kids need food. And you know, this means everybody gets food. So one, you're not going to see this stink anymore about who's getting the free breakfast or the free lunch—everybody gets it now, and it saves everybody money, $165 a month,” Commissioner James McDonald said during an interview on “Mornings On 1.”

A Christmas Eve letter from the state legislative leaders was coal in the MTA’s stocking, rejecting its $65 billion 2025-29 capital plan.

But in her budget address, Gov. Kathy Hochul reaffirmed her support for the MTA in her budget address Tuesday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul released the details behind her $252 billion state budget proposal for the next fiscal year complete, with tax cuts for the middle class, new spending for cops on the subway and increases for the state’s mammoth Medicaid program.

While her top budget official warned potential financial decisions out of Washington, D.C. could negatively affect the state, Hochul had her own message for New York’s Republicans now in power.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce Tuesday a budget that increases state spending by nearly $10 billion, offers tax cuts and backs a slate of affordability measures.

The fiscal year 2026-2027 state budget proposal is projected to grow to $252 billion in combined state and federal funding if approved by Hochul and the state Legislature.

There were a few issues that Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t mention during Tuesday’s State of the State address that are of interest to a variety of New Yorkers. Two such issues are the MRTA, the marijuana law, which has created a legal quagmire for some farmers and retailers. The other is AIM (aid and incentives for municipalities) aid, which is the direct financial support that municipalities receive from the state every year.

Last year, AIM was increased by $50 million for the first time in 15 years. While a good start, state Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a booster of cities like Buffalo, told Capital Tonight that it’s not enough.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing funding universal school meals in the next state budget as part of her State of the State executive agenda that she estimates will feed more than 2.7 million students, she announced Friday.

The governor's office said this program will help save families an estimated $165 on groceries per child each month. And if students currently buy meals at school every day, the state says it will save parents $2,000 per child a year, as well as address food insecurity among children and create more opportunities for students to succeed.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will announce in the coming days her support to fund universal school meals in the next state budget as part of her State of the State executive agenda, sources told Spectrum News on Wednesday.

It is estimated to cost about $250 million for universal coverage for all school districts in the state. Currently, about $145 million of the state's $237 billion budget funds free school meals in low-income districts.

In 2019, the New York State Board of Regents under Chancellor Betty Rosa created a Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) to travel around the state and collect information from stakeholders regarding the attributes and skills that students need to get them ready to graduate from high school, whether they choose to go to college, a trade school or participate in the economy in another way.

Fast forward to 2024 – the state has now determined that there should be multiple pathways to graduation, and that a Regents diploma isn’t, and shouldn’t be, the only option for students.

“We have more students who are coming to school who are not potty-trained.”

Marie Wiles was blunt about the increasingly basic needs of her pupils. She has served as superintendent of the Guilderland Central Schools, a suburb of Albany, for 14 years.

The New York state Division of the Budget has released its mid-year update to the state’s financial plan.

The update details how much tax revenue is coming into the state’s coffers, and whether spending is on track with projections.

The primary school funding formula for public schools in New York is getting a reboot.

The Foundation Aid formula, which has been the vehicle by which lawmakers direct money to school districts based on need, has been the blueprint for education advocates since 2007. But the formula is 17 years old and requires new inputs and updated data to accurately reflect district need.

The New York state Division of Budget sent a letter to state agencies on Tuesday warning them to keep their funding requests flat ahead of the FY25-26 budget that New York lawmakers will have to pass in April of next year.

“While there is a growing consensus that the national economy is proceeding toward a ‘soft landing,’ New York’s status as the world’s financial capital makes it susceptible to a multitude of economic, geopolitical, and market risks,” the letter to agency commissioners from state Budget Director Blake Washington, reads. “A thorough consideration of state commitments will allow the state to be better positioned to meet planned out-year spending growth, and in the event of an economic downturn, will lessen the need for potential reduction in critical services at a time when New Yorkers would otherwise be in most need of our support. To accomplish this, agency budget requests for State Fiscal Year SFY 2026 should not exceed the total SFY 2025 Enacted Budget agency funding levels, excluding one-time investments."

The 2024-25 New York state budget features $500,000 allocated for the review and update of Holocaust curricula in schools, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblymember Nily Rozic announced.

This comes roughly two years after legislation was passed requiring the state Department of Education to examine whether the Holocaust is being properly taught in schools. That survey showed all school districts that were required to include Holocaust education in its curriculum did so. The 2022 review also showed most districts taught students about the Holocaust in social studies and English Language Arts (ELA) classes, not through specialized courses or events.

The New York state budget from a progressive perspective is a mixed bag, according to one of the co-directors of the influential Working Families Party.

In a conversation with Capital Tonight, New York Working Families Party Co-Director Jasmine Gripper lauded the full funding of campaign finance reform which helps boost small campaign donors, as well as the restoration of education aid.

People aged 65 and over are the fastest-growing segment of New York state’s population, but according to AARP, the nation's largest organization dedicated to empowering older Americans, you wouldn’t know it from this year’s enacted New York state budget.

“Older adults were, for the most part, left out of the budget,” Beth Finkel, AARP’s New York state director, told Capital Tonight.

Many of New York state’s mayors are celebrating a bump in state funding for their municipalities in the state budget.

AIM, or aid and incentives for municipalities, will see a $50 million boost in unrestricted funding for cities, the first in 15 years.

Landlords of rent-stabilized apartments in New York City are saying this year’s budget was a lost opportunity.

Jay Martin, executive director of CHIP-NYC, the Community Housing Improvement Program, which represents the owners of New York City’s 400,000 rent-stabilized rental properties, told Capital Tonight’s Susan Arbetter that the math doesn’t add up.

On the surface, the housing deal in the enacted state budget includes many of the provisions that activists had fought for, including elements of the Good Cause Eviction bill and union wages for construction workers.

It also includes a new tax incentive for New York City developers and incentives to convert unused office space into affordable housing.

Over the weekend, state legislators passed a $237 billion budget. As usual, the big story isn’t the budget itself—it’s all of the policy decisions that were rolled into it, sometimes as a result of last-minute negotiations. NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan breaks down some of the highlights.

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The New York state Legislature still hasn't voted on a state budget, despite Gov. Kathy Hochul announcing the "framework" of a conceptual agreement on Monday.

The governor has acknowledged that details still need to be ironed out, but it is still not clear when the budget process will be wrapped up. State senators meanwhile told reporters as they left conference for the day that they plan to pass another budget extender Thursday possibly bumping the budget deadline to next week.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state’s residents want to see a state budget “that delivers for them” and says there is a lot in the conceptual agreement reached Monday between her and legislative leaders that those residents can be proud of.

The governor sat down with Capital Tonight on Tuesday to discuss some of the parameters of that agreement that includes public safety measures, record funding in education and a housing plan.

New York budget conversations in Albany are winding down — and that's how Gov. Kathy Hochul wants it after announcing a budget framework without details while lawmakers continue to discuss parts left unfinished.

State lawmakers on Wednesday are scheduled to conference remaining details of the the $237 billion Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget, including parts of the housing package, mayoral control of New York City schools and proposed cuts to Medicaid programs.

One of the major topics this state budget cycle was K-12 education funding, and whether Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to make changes to the Foundation Aid formula would survive the negotiating process after legislative leaders came out against it.

The governor announced a “conceptual” budget agreement Monday that she said commits $36 billion to education, the highest in state history.

After Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she struck a “conceptual” agreement on a $237 billion spending package on Monday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie appeared to back her up.

However, fellow Democrats in the state Legislature on Tuesday had various questions because they still had yet to discuss final details tied to big-ticket items like housing and health care.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York legislative leaders have come to a preliminary agreement on the state budget that includes a comprehensive housing plan, record funding in education and increased emphasis on public safety measures, the governor said.

Lawmakers on Monday appeared to have found consensus on a spending plan worth $237 billion, which is up from $233 billion that the governor proposed at the start of the legislative session in January.

The New York state budget is now more than 10 days late.

On Friday, the state Assembly passed another extender. The measure passed in the state Senate on Thursday. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the measure into law Friday afternoon.

New York is currently taking a look at state liquor laws that many criticize as being antiquated and harmful to businesses.

Some of that is up for discussion in the state budget, including a pandemic-era policy allowing restaurants to sell to-go cocktails that is scheduled to sunset next year. Another would allow bars and restaurants to purchase a limited quantity of liquor from a nearby store.

There are a series of moving parts that all need to fit together before a housing deal comes together in Albany. These include tenant protections, a wage deal between developers and construction unions, a tax break for developers, the removal of density regulations and new allowances for office conversions.

One new hurdle is a demand by developers to roll back certain tenant protections that were passed into law in 2019.

The city’s public school system is the largest in the U.S., with over a million kids and upwards of 1,800 schools, and the mayor is responsible for setting the agenda.

It’s called mayoral control.

We still have no state budget deal.

It’s been more than a week since the April 1 deadline and it seems we will have to wait a bit longer.

Twenty-six organizations across New York state have issued a memorandum of support for two pieces of legislation aimed at protecting children on social media as final budget negotiations continue.

The organizations, which include New York State United Teachers, the National Alliance on Mental Illness NY, the state School Boards Association, various Urban League branches and other organized labor, say the state Legislature should act now to pass the "Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act" and the "Child Data Protection Act."

Schools are breathing what will likely be a temporary sigh of relief.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week that changes she had recommended in her executive budget to the Foundation Aid formula, the primary school funding formula, would wait until next year’s budget.

Another state budget extender was passed Monday by the New York state Senate to keep the government running through Thursday, but will fund pay for state employees through next Tuesday.

The state Assembly approved the measure over the weekend. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed it into law Monday afternoon.

While upstate New York has been mesmerized by athletic, seismic and astronomical activity this week, there are some mundane (but important) financial issues that need to be discussed, namely New York’s annual spending plan, which was due on April 1.

A veteran of multiple state budget negotiations, attorney Shontell Smith, a partner at Tusk Strategies and former chief of staff to state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, discussed how the budget process works in Albany with Capital Tonight anchor Susan Arbetter.

The final state budget will continue to be late through the weekend as priorities appear to be getting eclipsed.

Lawmakers Thursday approved a second budget extender to keep the government running through Monday. With no final budget agreement expected, a third extender lawmakers will need to pass an additional extender by noon Monday to ensure thousands of state employees get paid on time.

New York lawmakers are pushing for more higher education funding in the final enacted state budget.

While Gov. Kathy Hochul’s excutive budget includes significant funding, those lawmakers are hoping to go further, making changes to the Tuition Assistance Program, or TAP, which helps eligible New York residents pay tuition at approved schools in New York state.

While some New York state budget watchdogs are warning lawmakers to rein in spending, the union-backed Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) has recently released an analysis that shows the Legislature is simply proposing spending growth that would return the state to its 2014 level of spending, before former Gov. Andrew Cuomo implemented tax cuts and a 2% spending cap.

Nathan Gusdorf, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, discussed spending, inflation and raising taxes with Capital Tonight host Susan Arbetter on Thursday.

The New York state Legislature on Thursday passed another state budget extension and it was promptly signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The extension through April 8 makes sure National Guard members are paid on time, but another will need to be passed by Monday to ensure other state employees are paid on time.

Last week's death of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller has prompted state leaders and lawmakers to revive talks of New York's bail reform law and questioning if the policy that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges should be amended a fourth time.

Diller, who was 31, was killed March 25 in Far Rockaway, Queens, while conducting a traffic stop. The man accused of fatally shooting Diller had a record of 21 prior arrests — sparking conversation across the political spectrum about flaws in the state's criminal justice system.

Good government groups are pushing the state to do more when it comes to political “deepfakes” generated by artificial intelligence. They say it’s especially important as we head into an election season that will see offices across the state and national levels on the ballot.

It’s an issue that also has lawmakers on both sides of the aisle concerned.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- New York state is losing thousands of journalists and the stories they would tell.

Empire State Local News Coalition Founder Zachary Richner said in the past two decades the state has lost roughly half of its newsrooms, including recently, three prominent Westchester newspapers.

State budget negotiations continue in Albany and there are last-ditch efforts being made to get various pieces of legislation included in its final version.

One proposal involves the creation of a short-term rental registry. Some municipalities have introduced something similar on the local level and it’s a measure included in both the state Senate and Assembly budget proposals.

The city public school system’s top bureaucrat lobbied Albany lawmakers Tuesday, holding out hope that the Legislature grants Mayor Eric Adams an extension of mayoral control.

“We think that we’ve done a great job rebuilding trust with our families and our communities, and we’ve been delivering real results,” city Department of Education Chancellor David Banks told reporters in the State Capitol Building on Tuesday.

Members of the New York state Assembly on Tuesday urged the chamber’s speaker, Carl Heastie, and Gov. Kathy Hochul to include the NY HEAT Act, which aligns utility regulation with state climate justice and emission reduction targets, in the state budget.

Proponents of the measure say it is intended to limit costs to customers as New York state transitions away from natural gas while protecting them from predatory practices by capping utility costs at 6% of income for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers to prevent utility companies from hiking rates.

State lawmakers are on track to return to Albany Tuesday to try to close on a budget deal by their new deadline April 4.

Among the many open topics is New York’s foray into the world of artificial intelligence and a multi-million dollar investment in a research hub.

While New York state lawmakers are debating where to cut health care, there are tax breaks in the state budget for people who buy private jets and luxury yachts.

The budget watchdog group Reinvent Albany calls these among the most obscene tax breaks in New York’s budget history.

Instead of missing a deadline for the state budget, lawmakers Thursday moved it.

They now have until April 4 instead of April 1 to make a budget deal with the governor.

Earlier this week, New York lawmakers, advocates and people living with cancer came to Albany to outline their budget and legislative priorities as lawmakers continue to hammer out a final budget deal. The advocates are looking for more funding for the Cancer Services Program, expanding access to paid family medical leave and diminishing the impact of medical debt, among other things.

Advocates are calling for more funding for two programs in the state, the cancer services program and the tobacco control program. The Cancer Services Program provides breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings to New Yorkers without or with inadequate health insurance while meeting certain age and income requirements.

The New York state Legislature passed and Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a bill into law to keep the government running through April 4 since the state budget's April 1 deadline will not reached due, in part, to the coming Easter holiday.

Hochul said on Wednesday evening that she believes a final budget agreement is within reach, but said, "I recognize many New Yorkers would like to spend the holiday weekend with family and loved ones."

On Wednesday, New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins confirmed that the Legislature will be pursuing a budget extender as talks will likely go past the April 1 deadline.

With the extra time for negotiations, Patrick Orecki, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, is urging lawmakers to rethink their spending plans.

Some New York lawmakers and advocates are pushing the state to invest more in prevention, treatment and recovery when it comes to substance use disorders. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Senate and Assembly all made slightly different budget proposals for fighting the crisis.

Advocates like Addiction Recovery coach Judy Moffitt are asking for addiction in New York state to be declared a state of emergency, and what is behind that effort is a series of items being pushed to address the crisis, some that are included in those budgets and some that aren’t.

New York state Senate Republicans unveiled a package of legislation Tuesday aimed to deal with affordable housing, incentivize home ownership and protect homeowners against “squatters.”

Championed by Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt and Pam Helming, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, the package includes tax credits, removes certain regulations and incentivizes new construction.

With less than a week to go until the state budget deadline, animal advocate Libby Post of the New York State Animal Protection Federation joined Capital Tonight to discuss what advocates are prioritizing this fiscal year.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With a complex journey of child development, early intervention can make all the difference.

"Rochester Hearing and Speech Center is the only not-for-profit left with a footprint in Monroe County who still does early intervention and we have developmental groups, which involve a special education teacher, speech pathologist, occupational therapist and a physical therapist in each classroom," director of educational and clinical services Beth McLellan said.

A number of business, public health and agricultural groups want to increase the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) minimum benefit to $100 a month in New York, according to a letter they sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday.

The letter’s signatories include the Business Council, Instacart, State Association for Rural Health, AARP, American Farmland Trust and the National Supermarket Association.

It's been several days since New York budget officials commenced serious spending talks, and they have not moved very far from the starting line.

Budget officials in the Legislature have been embroiled in ongoing talks for hours each day this week, often until midnight, but continue to be stuck on a core component of the next record-high multi-billion-dollar plan: how much to spend.

In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill that proponents said would protect tropical rainforests against deforestation and degradation.

Along with Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, Sen. Liz Krueger sponsored the "New York’s Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act,” which would have closed loopholes in an existing ban on the use of tropical hardwoods by New York state’s agencies and authorities.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament isn't just an opportunity for mobile sports bettors to make a quick buck.

It's also a very lucrative time of year for New York state.

Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State, joined Capital Tonight on Wednesday to discuss how the legislative budget proposals leave some behavioral health staff in the cold.

State legislators and advocates gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday rallying in support of increasing non-public school safety grant funding as lawmakers negotiate the state budget.

The program helps nonpublic schools acquire necessary safety and security equipment.

New York state has the lowest utilization of hospice in the country, which can be attributed to several factors, including low health literacy rates. But the state’s recent progress in support of end-of-life care may be threatened by something even more insidious: corporate greed.

To investigate that issue nationally, a joint request for information was issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission into private equity-backed health care and its impact on quality.

New York state budget negotiations kicked off in earnest on Monday with the landing of what is known as the "mothership."

Known officially as the General Conference Committee, the panel of legislative leaders will drive the process of negotiations toward a deal with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

For Brian Butler, owner of the Golden Rail Ale House, a small pour of alcohol can mean big bucks.

“One case, a week of liters, that's $36 plus a $20 delivery fee, which is going up to $25 to my understanding," he said. "That's $56 a week. So multiply that times 52 weeks if we were to buy every week. That's a lot of money.”

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans and other area mayors are making a push for increased funding during the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials.

The statewide media tour is urging Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to increase unrestricted aid to cities and villages.

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. -- In 2023, New York, for the first time, fully funded public education under the state’s Foundation Aid formula.

State Sen. Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, said after several years of budget victories, few advocates expected the trend to continue this year but what the governor proposed was an actual cut.

There are several proposals on environmental wish lists this legislative session, including the NY HEAT Act, which advocates say will save New Yorkers money and move them off fossil fuels, as well as the Climate Change Superfund Act, which would make polluters pay for the cost of the climate transition.

“This is a very important budget for lawmakers and the governor to get right when it comes to environmental protections and addressing climate change,” Liz Moran, a policy advocate for Earthjustice, told Capital Tonight.

With both the state Assembly and Senate voting to pass their one house budgets Thursday afternoon, things head into the next stage of the process: negotiations with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Last year, disagreements over housing and changes to bail reform held up the process for over a month with an agreement not coming until May.

Syracuse's newly minted city auditor Alexander Marion is calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to devote more money to Aid and Incentives for Municipalities, or AIM funding, and commission a task force to redesign the formula.

In a letter sent to Hochul on Thursday, Marion argues “funding for municipalities needs to be a priority for New York state.”

The New York state Senate and Assembly’s one-house budgets released this week deliver good news for an array of interests from school districts to hospitals, to cannabis growers. They do this by raising $2.2 billion in new taxes on the state’s corporations as well as the state’s very highest earners, something Gov. Kathy Hochul has said is “a non-starter."

According to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the tax increases are important because the needs in the state are so great.

Democratic state lawmakers are letting Gov. Kathy Hochul know where their priorities are in what’s known as their “one-house” budget proposals that were released earlier Tuesday.

The plans will serve as roadmaps for the next couple of weeks in negotiations leading up to the state’s April 1 budget deadline.

The New York state Senate and Assembly on Tuesday released their one-house budget proposals, and as expected, both rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to end "Save Harmless."

"Save Harmless," also known as "Hold Harmless," ensures that districts don’t receive less in Foundation Aid than the previous year and has been a major issue of contention so far this legislative session, also receiving significant pushback from Republican lawmakers.

The next phase of Albany’s budget negotiations kicked off Monday night, as both Democratic state Senate and Assembly conferences were poised to release their “one house” budget proposals.

Only the state Senate’s document was released online late Monday night as R1952. The documents establish the Legislature’s stance on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2024 $233 billion budget proposal released in January.

The New York state Assembly and Senate will release and vote on their own one-house budgets this week. One of the big questions the budgets will answer is this: Will lawmakers push for a tax hike on the state’s wealthiest citizens or not?

New York relies heavily on the Personal Income Tax (PIT) tax, so a perennial argument in Albany balances whether to increase taxes on the wealthy to bring in needed revenue, against the possibility of the wealthy fleeing the state.

Advocates are teaming up with some New York state lawmakers to move closer to passing what is known as Daniel’s Law, named for Daniel Prude.

Prude died in police custody in Rochester back in 2020 during a mental health crisis.

The Citizens Budget Commission, a non-partisan fiscal watchdog group, released their outlook for the New York state budget on Thursday that warns that even with a brighter outlook for the state’s economy, a focus should be placed on spending restraints. The group also released a list of recommendations which includes keeping spending growth below 2% and not increasing taxes.

The report points out that the executive budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 is balanced but structural budget imbalances will exceed $16.4 billion by fiscal year 2028. The report also finds that Medicaid and school aid spending “would continue at unsustainable rates” despite savings that are proposed in this fiscal year’s budget. The report warns that even with projected economic growth, spending restraints “remain necessary” to close out-year budget gaps.

A collaboration of unions, climate advocates, building industry representatives and environmental groups is calling for New York to decarbonize state-owned college campuses as part of the state budget.

Known as UpgradeNY, the group wants union-led funding to build thermal energy networks at the State University of New York at Buffalo and Purchase to decarbonize heating and cooling on their campuses, the group said Thursday morning.

With redistricting in the rearview mirror and one-house budgets expected to be released next week, Capital Tonight sat down with New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to discuss a variety of topics, including education aid.

The speaker stated he is looking to make sure rural and suburban schools don’t lose money in this year’s budget; and that there is an appetite for revisiting the Foundation Aid formula.

Farmers from around the state will lobby state lawmakers Tuesday before state budget talks grow serious to increase funding to support local food production and small family farms grappling with increased costs and green energy mandates.

Hundreds of members of the New York Farm Bureau kicked off the annual agricultural lobbying effort with a reception in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center on Monday night — showing off dozens of locally produced vegetables, fruits, craft beverages and other products.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- According to the American Bar Association, the average law student graduates with $130,000 in student loan debt.

Many are able to quickly make a dent by going into lucrative private or corporate practices, but Amanda Jack of the Legal Aid Society says those who go into publicly funded work typically make far less.

The New York state Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials (NYCOM) is once again reiterating a request to increase funding for local governments that pays for things like supplies and wages for police officers and firefighters, according to a letter it sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders.

AIM funding, which stands for Aid to Municipalities, has totaled about $715 million a year since 2012 and has remained relatively stagnant since that time. Mayors from across the state have been pushing for an increase after AIM funding level remained the same in the governor's executive budget proposal.

Food assistance organizations across New York state have been seeing an uptick in the number of people in need of a helping hand.

They often rely on resources like the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, or HPNAP, and Nourish New York.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Capital Tonight on Friday, New York state Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger discussed health care, raising revenue, housing and the new congressional maps approved Thursday by the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC).

According to Krueger, the full Senate Democratic conference has yet to review the maps, but she wasn’t impressed by what she saw.

New York state Comptroller Tim DiNapoli says the state’s finances have stabilized after the years-long disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, and along with the state Division of the Budget, is forecasting reduced budget gaps while pointing out that fiscal risks and challenges remain, according to a report on the budget his office released Thursday.

“New York state has taken positive steps to stabilize its finances with higher reserves and lower projected budget gaps,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Still, the Executive and the Legislature face the difficult challenge of ensuring adequate funding for our schools, health care programs, and other critical needs while improving the state’s affordability."

Even as the worst snowstorm in years hit New York City on Tuesday, hundreds of advocates and people in recovery rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday for Stand Up for Recovery Day. The day celebrates the promise of recovery from addiction and serves as a chance to educate elected officials on the recovery movement.

“Especially nowadays, with the drugs being so lethal, when folks make it to recovery, you’ve got to really support them staying there,” said attorney and drug policy expert Rob Kent, president of Kent Strategic Advisors.

During a legislative session when housing is at the top of the agenda, the head of New York’s Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) argues it would be shortsighted not to fund a program that keeps people in their homes.

“[HOPP] has been extremely successful at preserving home ownership. (It’s) very cost-effective, and it’s regrettable that every year we go through this exercise of having to justify ourselves and ensure that the Legislature doesn’t let the state’s investment in this network lapse by defunding the program,” Jacob Inwald, director of litigation and economic justice at Legal Services NYC, told Capital Tonight.

According to state Education Department figures, New York’s public schools are seeing their lowest enrollment numbers since the years after World War II, and that decline is affecting public and private institutions of higher education across the state — from the lecture hall to the budget office.

On Friday, lawmakers heard from higher education leaders, including SUNY Chancellor Dr. John King, in a marathon budget hearing. King has said that SUNY either needs more operating aid from the state or an increase in tuition to address the system’s financial needs.

Members of and advocates for New York’s farming industry came to Albany this week to outline their legislative priorities, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted that farm income in the US will decline by record levels in 2024.

“Agriculture and Markets is the industry’s economic development arm, there are so many things in the governor’s executive budget that farmers rely on,” said Jeff Williams, director of public policy for the New York Farm Bureau.

School districts and education experts are continuing to express concerns about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to end "Save Harmless," also known as "Hold Harmless," which ensures that districts don’t see a decrease in Foundation Aid funding compared to the previous year.

At Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District, administrators say increases in Foundation Aid in the years following the Great Recession have yielded significant improvements to services offered to students as well as the district’s facilities.

New York’s adult-use cannabis market has had some major challenges, one of which has been the lack of retail space in which to sell product.

In Albany, there is now an opportunity for adult use cannabis retailers to sell weed at a medical marijuana retail dispensary.

New York lawmakers met yet again within the marble walls of Albany's Legislative Office Building Wednesday to hear testimony on the state’s environmental conservation budget, with topics ranging from assistance for farmers to New York’s State Park system.

Some of the more heated exchanges we’ve seen at these hearings so far this session, however, were directed at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation. They're largely concerned with the attainability of New York’s climate goals.

The money that municipalities like Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany receive from the state is called Aid to Municipalities, or AIM funding. Cities use AIM to pay for things like supplies and wages for police officers and firefighters. AIM has totaled about $715 million a year since 2012.

Using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculator, if you spent $1,000 on supplies and wages back in 2012, they would cost you $353 more in 2024.

Tuesday was Tin Cup Day in Albany, when mayors from across New York meet with state lawmakers to discuss their funding priorities.

Following New York City Mayor Eric Adams, mayors from Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers answered questions from lawmakers on what their city’s needs are, with lawmakers grilling them on specifics.

Education funding is one of the largest sources of state spending and this year is no different.

Fresh off a marathon budget hearing on propped education funding is the chair of the Senate Education Committee, Yonkers Democratic state Sen. Shelley Mayer, who joined Capital Tonight on Friday.

For more than a year, migrants have been bused from the southern border to Democratic-led cities like New York, putting a strain on the social safety net and uprooting migrants who, in some cases, have traveled hundreds or thousands of miles.

Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, joined Capital Tonight on Thursday to discuss the budget and the impact it’ll have on New York’s immigrant community.

New York lawmakers gathered in Albany Thursday for a joint hearing on the state’s education budget.

Members of the state Education Department were on hand to testify, and as expected, much of the conversation surrounded the governor’s proposal to end "Save Harmless," also known as "hold harmless." It ensures that districts don’t receive less Foundation Aid funding from one year to the next.