Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing a nearly $230 billion state budget that includes money for the city to help pay for an influx of asylum seekers and a new tax to help fund mass transit.

For the 2024 fiscal year that starts in two months, Hochul unveiled a $227 billion state budget, a 2.4% increase in spending from last year.

For the city, that will include $1 billion in funding for the migrant crisis. It’s money Mayor Eric Adams has been asking the state to come up with for months.

What You Need To Know

  • Hochul is proposing a $227 billion state budget for the next fiscal year, that begins April 1

  • The budget includes a billion dollars for the migrant crisis in the city, and new funding for the subways

  • Hochul is also looking to make changes to the controversial bail reform law

“Once these individuals are qualified to have status to get a job, the need to support them will diminish exponentially,” Hochul said at a press conference Wednesday following her budget presentation. “This is a transition period. We don’t know the exact number coming. But we do know that the number is going to decrease in terms of people needing additional services.”

Hochul also has a funding plan for the MTA.

Subway ridership dropped off significantly during the pandemic, and the agency has yet to fully recover. The governor is calling for an increase in the payroll tax for companies in the 12 downstate counties within the MTA’s coverage area.

And she proposed allocating a portion of the state revenue from the sale of three new downstate casino licenses to the MTA.

“When you are counting on a high percentage of your revenues to be derived from fares, and there are no fares to be collected, you really have to reset our expectations and how we are going to manage through this time,” Hochul said.

As expected, the governor is also looking to include criminal justice policy changes in the budget. She is asking the legislature to revisit the controversial bail reform law, passed in 2019, which ended cashless bail for many offenses.

Hochul says the law is too confusing.

“Judges in one area are asked to consider factors in determining whether or not someone accused of a serious crime should be let out, pretrial. Or remanded or have bail posted. Or the other standard says least restrictive means. We are focusing on remedying that inconsistency,” Hochul said.

While education funding would increase statewide, Hochul has proposed eliminating the regional cap on charter schools, which would likely lead to new charter schools in the City. It’s a proposal that has already drawn fire from fellow Democrats and union leaders.

“We are not interested in any conversation about the expansion, or giving new possibilities to the corporate charter chains in the state or city of New York. Period,” said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.

More than a $150 million has been budgeted for subway safety, including a relatively new program Hochul launched with the Mayor, that allows the state to pay the overtime costs of NYPD officers patrolling the subways.