On April 27, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a “conceptual” agreement on a $229 billion budget on New York State’s Fiscal Year (“SFY”) 2024, covering 2023-24. Negotiations continued for the next several days, and the Senate and Assembly began consideration and passage of several bills on May 1, with the remaining bills taken up on May 2. The total spending plan is an increase of $2 billion from the Governor’s original spending plan proposed in January ($227 billion) and an increase of $8 billion over last year.

The final Budget included a number of high profile policy decisions, including: an agreement on bail reform that removes the “least restrictive means” standard and provides for greater judicial discretion; $1 billion for 1,000 new psychiatric beds; $100 million for preventative and primary care; $100 million in funding to protect reproductive healthcare; an increase in the statewide minimum wage; an increase in the payroll tax for NYC employers (i.e. the Mobility Tax) to provide added funding for the MTA; and $400 million in utility relief for vulnerable New Yorkers. Full highlights of the FY 2024 final Budget can be found here.

Governor Hochul said:

The Governor’s office issued the following initiative-specific press releases regarding the final Budget:

• Governor Hochul Announces Passage of $1 Billion Plan to Overhaul New York State’s Continuum of Mental Health Care
• Governor Hochul Announces Investments to Create a Stronger Health Care System for the Future
• Governor Hochul Announces Major Actions to Strengthen Abortion Protections and Access as Part of FY 2024 Budget
• Governor Hochul Announces Unprecedented Support for Education in FY 2024 Budget, Including $34.5 Billion in School Aid
• Governor Hochul Announces Significant Actions to Expand Affordable Child Care Access Statewide as Part of FY 2024 Budget
• Governor Hochul Announces Historic Agreement to Increase New York’s Minimum Wage and Index to Inflation as Part of FY 2024 Budget
• Governor Hochul Announces FY 2024 Budget Historic Investments and Initiatives to Drive Down Gun Violence, Improve the Criminal Justice System, and Create a Safer New York State
• Governor Hochul Announces FY 2024 Budget Investments to Grow Jobs and Drive Economic Growth Across New York State
• Governor Hochul Announces a Record Investment to Save the MTA and Secure Long-Term Stability for Public Transit
• Governor Hochul Announces Support for Homeowners, Tenants and Public Housing Residents as Part of FY 2024 Budget
• Governor Hochul Announces FY 2024 Budget Investments in Energy Affordability, Sustainable Buildings, and Clean Energy
• Governor Hochul Announces $23.2 Billion for Capital Projects as Part of FY 2024 Budget
• Governor Hochul Highlights Historic Investments for New York State Agriculture as Part of FY 2024 Budget
• Governor Hochul Signs Legislation to Curb the Illicit Cannabis Market in New York State as Part of the FY 2024 Budget
• Governor Hochul Announces Actions to Modernize State Workforce and Government Operations as Part of FY 2024 Budget

Subsequently, legislative leaders Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins issued separate press release with highlights from their respective houses. Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins’ press release can be found here.

The Senate Majority Leader issued the following statement regarding the FY 2024 final Budget:

Assembly Speaker Heastie issued several press releases based on different budget initiatives passed this year. Each release can be found linked below.

• Enacted SFY 2023-24 Budget Keeps SUNY & CUNY Tuition Flat for New Yorkers and Invests $3 Billion in Capital Support for SUNY & CUNY Schools
• Approved SFY 2023-24 Budget Includes $34 Billion in School Aid
• SFY 2023-24 Budget Includes $1.4 Billion for Distressed and Safety-Net Hospitals, Medicaid Rate Increases and Wage Increases for Home Health Care Workers
• SFY 2023-24 Enacted Budget Makes Critical Investments in the MTA and Statewide Infrastructure Improvements
• Enacted SFY 2023-24 Budget Includes Provisions to Reduce New York State’s Reliance on Fossil Fuels
• Speaker Heastie Announces SFY 2023-24 Budget Includes Provisions to Make New York More Affordable for Families and Invest in Moving Our State Forward
• SFY 2023-24 Budget Includes Historic $30 Million to Provide Critical Services for New York’s AAPI Communities

Governor Signs Legislative Package to Expand Access to Reproductive Health Care

On Tuesday, Governor Hochul held a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany to sign a package of legislation to expand access to reproductive healthcare for New Yorkers. Together, both signed bills will allow pharmacists to dispense contraception over the counter and ensure all public colleges and universities in the SUNY and CUNY systems offer access to medication abortion.

Governor Hochul said:

More information can be found here.  

Attorney General Proposes Program Bill to Regulate the Cryptocurrency Industry

New York Attorney General Letitia James has introduced legislation to tighten regulations regarding the cryptocurrency industry. The bill sets out to increase transparency, eliminate conflicts of interest, and impose measures to protect investors.

If passed, the bill would specifically require independent public audits of cryptocurrency exchanges and prevent individuals from owning the same companies, such as brokerages and tokens, to stop conflicts of interest. Crypto platforms would also have responsibilities to customers like banks under the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act by requiring platforms to reimburse customers who are the victims of fraud. The bill would also strengthen the New York State Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) regulatory authority of digital assets.

The bill would stop conflicts of interest in the industry by:

• Preventing common ownership of crypto issuers, marketplaces, brokers, and investment advisers and preventing any participant from engaging in more than one of those activities;
• Preventing crypto brokers and marketplaces from trading for their own accounts;
• Prohibiting marketplaces and investment advisers from keeping custody of customer funds;
• Prohibiting brokers from borrowing or lending customer assets; and
• Prohibiting referrals from marketplaces to investment services for compensation.

Among other things, the bill would increase transparency in the industry by requiring companies to:

• Undergo mandatory independent auditing and publish audited financial statements;
• Provide investors with material information about issuers, including risks and conflict-of-interest disclosures;
• Require marketplaces to establish and publish listing standards; and
• Require cryptocurrency promoters to register and report their interest in any issuer whose crypto assets they promote.

The bill would bolster investor protections by:

• Enacting and codifying “know-your-customer” provisions, meaning brokers would have to know essential facts about their customers, and requiring crypto brokers and marketplaces to only conduct business with firms that comply with KYC provisions;
• Banning the use of the term “stablecoin” to describe or market digital assets unless they are backed 1:1 with U.S. currency or high-quality liquid assets as defined in federal regulations; and
• Requiring platforms to reimburse customers who are the victims of unauthorized asset transfers and transfers resulting from fraud.

The Attorney General’s full announcement can be found in a press release here.

Teachers Union Elects New President

Delegates to the New York State United Teachers’ Representative Assembly elected Melinda Person to a three-year term as President of the nearly 700,000-member union. Ms. Person has served as NYSUT’s executive director and political director since 2019, overseeing the union’s staff and coordinating its political action and organizing operations. Prior to joining NYSUT in 2006, she worked in the governor’s Budget Office and the state Assembly, and student-taught in a sixth-grade classroom in the Boston public schools. Her NYS teaching certification is in Childhood Education. Ms. Person will take over for outgoing President Andy Pallotta, who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Ms. Person said: