Assemblyman Al Stirpe (D-Cicero) announced that he helped pass the Assembly’s 2019-20 state budget proposal, which includes significant investments in local transportation, infrastructure, economic development and education.

“Central New York’s on the right path, and it’s my responsibility to help ensure that stays true,” said Stirpe. “I fought for important measures in this year’s Assembly proposal that look out for my neighbors and boost our region, and I’ll push for our fair share as negotiations for the final budget get underway.”

Moving Central New York forward

Stirpe noted that a critical part of growing the region’s economy and boosting local businesses is making necessary infrastructure repairs. To that end, the Assembly proposal provides $438.1 million for the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Program (CHIPs) repair and replace aging roads and bridges; $65 million restoration for the Extreme Winter Recovery as well as $100 million for the PAVE-NY program. Stirpe also noted that programs like CHIPs allow municipalities to fund infrastructure projects without draining local budgets or raising taxes.

To further support local governments, the proposal restores the governor’s proposed $59 million cut in funding to Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM), bringing total AIM support to $715 million. In Onondaga County alone, towns and villages received nearly $2.5 million in AIM funding last year.[1]

To support Central New York’s public transit system, the Assembly proposal provides $226.5 million for upstate transit systems, an $8.8 million increase over the executive proposal. With this sizeable investment, transit systems like CENTRO will be able to preserve service, noted Stirpe.

Stirpe also advocated for $1 million for the Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems at Syracuse University (SyracuseCoE) to promote further collaboration between Syracuse University and local businesses while strengthening our burgeoning high-tech industries. Additionally, the Assembly plan restores $750,000 for Small Business Development Centers, which offer business counseling and entrepreneurial training, as well as funding for CenterState CEO and the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) to help local businesses grow and create more good-paying jobs.

Investing in education

“From the moment they walk through the doors on their first day of pre-K until they walk across the stage on graduation day, our students deserve the very best,” said Stirpe. “Their education will help define their lives, and it’s up to us to make sure our schools have the resources they need to hire great teachers, offer enriching extracurricular programs and look out for kids going through hard times.”

The Assembly plan provides $28.4 billion in education funding. This represents an increase of $1.6 billion – or nearly 6 percent – over the previous year and $644 million more than the executive proposal. Foundation Aid would be increased by $1.16 billion for the 2019-20 school year for a total of $18.9 billion, which is $823 million more than the executive proposal. The Assembly proposal also funds a host of SUNY programs, including:

• • $500 million in critical maintenance funding for SUNY for expansion projects;
  • $1.3 million for SUNY Child Care Centers;
  • a $6 million increase over the executive proposal for Educational Opportunity Centers (EOCs), for a total of $61 million, and $30 million in capital funding; and
  • a $1 million restoration to Advanced Technology Training Information Networking (ATTAIN) labs for a total of $5.5 million.                  

Stirpe also secured funding for the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) as well as SUNY Upstate Medical University.

And to help children in foster care find a home and prepare them for future success, the Assembly proposal provides $3 million for the creation of the Family First Transition Fund. The fund would use federal and private foundation funds to allow foster care agencies to expand care capacity and help New York meet state requirements. The proposal also restores $4.5 million for the Foster Youth College Success Initiative to support foster students on their path to higher education.