Dear Constituent, 

I am happy to report that last week, the state budget for fiscal year 2026 was enacted. Below, please find more information about what that means for all those who live, work and play in Assembly District 95. 

Sincerely,

Assemblymember Dana Levenberg

Affordability

Affordability is one of my top priorities, and the new state budget contains some big wins in that regard. These include: 

• Universal free school meals, which means all households with school-aged children can spend less on food during the school year
• Inflation rebate checks ranging from $150-$400 per household
• A $400 million increase in state support for affordable childcare

This budget also delivers substantial middle class tax relief, including a cut in the income tax rate for everyone earning less than $323,000, an enhanced Empire State child tax credit, and expanded STAR property tax relief. To help pay for this, we extended a tax rate increase on New Yorkers earning more than $1.1 million annually through 2032. 

Education

We’ve also invested in affordability by investing in education. These investments support affordability by reducing pressure to raise property taxes in the short-term and by helping more of our young people graduate with the skills they’ll need to take higher-paying jobs. This budget delivers more than $268 million in state aid to school districts in AD95, an increase of more than 8% over last year. We also adopted changes to the Foundation Aid formula so it better reflects the needs of contemporary school districts. We have changed how student poverty is measured and increased the weight given to a district’s number of English Language Learners to direct more state funding to districts with higher needs. The result is a formula that delivers a minimum 2% increase in Foundation Aid to all districts; in AD95, the average increase is closer to 8%.

This budget also authorizes a change to the formula’s regional cost index for Westchester County districts. Previously, Westchester was grouped with the rest of the Hudson Valley, which did not accurately reflect the higher cost of labor and other inputs in our county. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, Westchester will have its own regional cost index to ensure that factors unique to our area are taken into account when determining how much aid we receive. My Westchester colleagues and I fought hard for this change and look forward to its incorporation next year. 

This budget also establishes the New York Opportunity Promise Scholarship, which provides free community college tuition and other assistance for students aged 25-55 pursuing careers in high-demand fields like advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, nursing, and more. It also increases the State’s contribution toward BOCES’ instructors’ salaries, further bolstering career and technical education.

Environment

While we are still fighting for New York HEAT and the enhanced solar tax credit, this budget does include major investments in sustainability and climate action. We won a $1 billion Sustainable Future Program, with millions in funding for thermal energy networks, electrical grid upgrades, public renewable energy projects, electric school buses, EV charging stations and more. We also won $2 million to start the Green Pre-Electrification (GAP) Fund, which will help more people do the preliminary work needed to electrify their homes.

While the Clean Water Infrastructure Act fund will remain at $500 million, we were able to increase the Environmental Protection Fund budget to $425 million, over the Governor’s proposed $400 million. That increase helped us secure a small boost to state support for local composting programs, which now stands at $5 million. Overall, I am proud to report that New York State will continue pushing forward toward a cleaner, greener future. 

Transportation

This budget includes a $100 million increase in CHIPs funding to help municipalities improve local roads and highways. It also includes an $800 million increase for the NYSDOT Capital Plan, and I will continue to push for more of that funding to come to the state roads in our area. This budget also funds the MTA Capital Plan, which supports Metro-North, an essential service in our area. 

Health and Human Services

Many of you have written to me expressing your support for devoting more funding to hunger prevention. Though we did not get the full amount the Assembly proposal asked for in this area, this budget does provide $55 million for Nourish NY and $58 million for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program. I also received many messages imploring us to give human services workers a 7.8% cost of living adjustment (COLA). This budget improved on the Governor’s proposal, to give human services workers a 2.6% COLA.

For many of these workers, this increase starts from a higher base due to a re-basing that took place just before budget negotiations began, so while we did not get the full 7.8% COLA that the Assembly included in our proposal, many human services workers will still see a significant raise.

Parting Thoughts

This was an especially challenging budget to put together, particularly because of the uncertainty around federal funding. I am continuing to advocate for federal funding that is sufficient to meet our state’s needs, and I encourage everyone to do the same. Now is the time to call our federal representatives and ask them to protect programs like Medicaid; cuts to this program would be devastating to our state and our local communities. As one of the top contributors to the federal coffers, New York deserves to receive enough funding to meet our needs, and our Congressional representatives should help us as we aim to provide relief to households that have borne more than their fair share of financial burdens in recent years. You can find contact information for our federal representatives at the following websites: 

Congressman Mike Lawler: https://lawler.house.gov/contact/

Senator Chuck Schumer: https://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/

I also believe that we need to look inward at the state budgeting process. This year’s negotiations, particularly the last-minute addition of so many policy proposals, really shone a light on the problems with our current process. I am discussing this situation with my colleagues and considering various proposals to promote greater transparency, reduce the amount of policy that goes into what is supposed to be a fiscal document, and restore the equality of the Legislature with the Executive during the process. 

I will be sharing more details about the budget in future e-blasts and on social media; if you are not already following me, I am @AMDanaLevenberg on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky. You can also read all about the final enacted budget on the Assembly’s budget page. If you have any specific questions or comments, please feel free to reply to this email to send me a message, or to call my office at (914) 941-1111.