Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (second from left) and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (first from left) and Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman D. Farrell Jr. today convened the first meeting of the 2015-2016 General Budget Conference Committee, the beginning of the deliberations of the joint legislative budget conference subcommittees in Albany.

Speaker Heastie said he and his Assembly colleagues look forward to working out their differences between the respective budget plans of the Governor and Senate and highlighted the Assembly's "Families First" budget priorities, including increased school aid, additional funding for TAP awards, a higher minimum wage, enacting the DREAM Act and more affordable housing.