Governor Releases 30-Day Amendments
The Governor released his 30-day amendments on Friday, February 15
th
. The amendments can be found
here.
As part of the 30-day amendment package, the Governor proposed a restoration of AIM cuts through a mechanism where counties would be forced to share a portion of our sales tax revenue with municipalities the state had stopped providing AIM funding to. The move directly shifts a state cost to county taxpayers as a way to make local governments whole.
In a response to this proposal, NYSAC Executive Director, Stephen Acquario released the following statement:
The Governor’s thirty-day amendment “fix” to earlier cuts to the Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM) uses future Internet sales tax revenue that he is taking from counties to pay for cuts he levied on other local governments.
This is a horrible precedent and unnecessarily shifts the state’s burden to local taxpayers who already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation.
The state could have used its share of Internet sales tax revenue to make municipalities whole.
Forcing counties to use a portion of their internet sales tax revenue to reimburse our municipal partners does not help the state reduce property taxes or help to offset the costs of services to our residents.
In the end, local homeowners and businesses just keep paying for decisions made by the State.
NYSAC has been meeting with leadership from both the Assembly and Senate to advocate for county concerns as each chamber crafts their one-house budget bills. We will continue to work with lawmakers to ensure NYSAC legislative and budget priorities are heard and considered.
New NYSAC Report: Ending Cash Bail and Other Criminal Justice Reforms
In his inaugural address and budget proposal, Governor Andrew Cuomo pledged to put forth a reform agenda that includes ending cash bail and enacting other criminal justice reforms. These legislative measures would end bail, expand the discovery process, improve access to a speedy trial, transform civil asset forfeiture, and improve the community reentry process.
NYSAC has reviewed these proposals and drafted a report that includes the county impact of these new amendments.
Next Steps in the State Budget Process
Both
h
ouses of the State Legislature will release their one house versions of the state budget during the first week of March, shortly after they come to an agreement on the revenue projections for the 2019-20 State Fiscal Year.
Throughout th
e following
six-week process, your NYSAC legislative team will continue to advocate on a range of county concerns, until a state budget is enacted by April 2, 2019.
NYSAC Testifies Before NYS Legislature Joint Fiscal Committees
On February 11, NYSAC
testified
on the 2019-20 State Budget proposal
to
the fiscal committees of the New York State Legislature.
Read the full testimony here
.
NYSAC's testimony addressed several proposals in the state budget, including legalizing marijuana, Internet sales tax, the property tax cap, raise the age implementation, early voting, shared services, community college funding, the bottle bill expansion, and several other state policies that directly impact counties.
Video: NYS Budget Analysis from NYSAC’s Dave Lucas
During the Legislative Conference, attendees heard from NYSAC’s Director of Finance Dave Lucas about the potential county impact of the NYS Executive Budget Proposal.
Dave began with a discussion of New York’s current economic conditions and followed with an analysis of the Governor’s Budget Proposal, items that could impact counties both positively and negatively, and which issues NYSAC will be focusing advocacy efforts on.
