Gov. Kathy Hochul touted the highlights of the recently finalized 2023 New York State Budget on Saturday, including providing more health care for New Yorkers, aid to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the tax burden, improving the state's transportation and housing infrastructure, combating climate change, creating jobs and improving public safety and ethic oversight in government. 

"When I was sworn in, I promised that every decision I make will go through one lens: is it the best deal for New Yorkers?" Gov. Hochul said. "This budget fulfills that promise and provides us with a blueprint for the short- and long-term future. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not just bring relief to families and put more money in people's pockets today, but also to make historic investments in New Yorkers for years ahead. With this budget we are seizing that opportunity and ushering in a new era of a stronger, safer, more prosperous New York State." 

The budget agreement includes a $20 billion multi-year health care investment to create better working conditions, $1.2 billion for frontline health care worker bonuses, $3.9 billion to provide aid to hospitals struggling financially from the COVID-19 pandemic and another $7.7 billion will be spent over four years to increase the home care worker minimum wage by $3.

The budget also features $31.5 billion in total school aid, the highest level of State aid ever, a $32.8 billion five-year capital plan for programs and proposed projects administered by the New York State Department of Transportation, $1.2 billion for the landmark Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, a $25 billion, five-year housing plan that tackles systemic inequities by creating and preserving 100,000 affordable homes, including 10,000 homes with support services for vulnerable populations, expanded access to high-quality child care, $2 billion in pandemic recovery aid, $224 million to fund initiatives that will strengthen the gun violence prevention efforts of law enforcement and community-based organizations, significant support for New York's small businesses, including a new capped refundable tax relief program targeting COVID-19-related expenses, and the allowance of sales of alcoholic beverages "to go" for off-premises consumption.

The budget will improve ethics oversight and restore New Yorkers' trust in state government by creating a new entity, the "Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government," to replace the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE).

New York will also suspend the state sales tax imposed on fuel, the motor fuel tax, and the metropolitan commuter transportation district sales tax imposed on gasoline and highway diesel from June through December 2022.

The total budget for fiscal year 2023 is currently estimated at approximately $221 billion, based on a preliminary assessment of the negotiated changes to the Executive proposal.