Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to end 'hold harmless' has been one of the more contentious issues in Albany this legislative session.

It’s a provision that ensures districts don’t receive less Foundation Aid funding than they did the year before. 

Last week, budget officials announced $1.3 billion in unexpected revenue projections. As lawmakers conference behind closed doors ahead of the release of one-house budgets next week, multiple sources close to Assembly discussions indicated they are poised to reject the proposal and possibly use money to back a review of a formula most agree is outdated. 

The formula to determine how much a district receives was created in 2008 and is based on data that’s older.

Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas is banding together a group of 18 mothers and grandmothers in the state Legislature to ask Gov. Kathy Hochul to reverse course on ending 'hold harmless.' She said the group comes to the table with lived experience when it comes to issues like Foundation Aid funding, as well as a widespread bipartisan push González-Rojas is spearheading to fully fund universal free school meals.

It’s experience she said the governor can relate to.

“We are calling on our first mom governor to make investments in our schools, not cuts” she said. “We bring a particular perspective to this fight. It’s very personal. My son is in public middle school, and so many of our moms have children in the public school system”

It comes as the future of Foundation Aid has been a topic of conversation atop the hill in Albany all week, as the state Senate and Assembly are expected to release their one-house budgets Monday.

This past Monday, the governor doubled down on her assertions that reeling in recent infusions of funding over the past few budget cycles intended to stabilize aid to schools shouldn’t be considered a cut, and districts that have lost students should have their funding reflect that.

“The thought that we could sustain that increase every year, I had assumed rational people understood that can’t happen,” she told reporters.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie then told Spectrum News 1 that reversing the move and instead moving toward a formal review of the Foundation Aid formula is on the table.

“I do think it needs to be updated and revisited and we’re open to that, but we don’t want to hurt districts in the process,” he said.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins didn’t reveal specific plans, but indicated her conference’s stance.

“We’re concerned about the education proposals,” she said. “Obviously, we are going to be differing in a few ways.”

In speaking with reporters this week, Budget Director Blake Washington acknowledged the $1.3 billion in extra revenue gives the Legislature a wide-open path to give the proposal a thumbs down, describing his office as “receptive.”

“Certainly in the Legislature, the leaders have both said that looking at the overall proposal on school aid is top of mind. So sure, I think modifying that is probably fair game,” he said.

The governor’s proposal has drawn criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, but Gonzales-Rojas reiterated that there is agreement across the board when it comes to the idea that the formula does not reflect current conditions. The concern is with eliminating 'hold harmless' before charting a path forward.

“What we’re advocating for is to follow the recommendation of the state Education Department, which says we need to fund a study to update the formula and reassess. I think they are using data from the 2000 Census,” she said.

When it comes to concerns that school districts are being expected to make changes with little warning should the proposal go through, the budget division pointed to the $100 million in discretionary funding included in the proposal to assist districts with the transition and “smooth out the edges.”

We reached out to the governor’s office for further comment, but did not yet hear back.