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Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Budget Passes

April 10th, 2019

Early on Sunday, March 31, Governor Cuomo and the Legislature reached an agreement on a new state budget, just prior to the April 1 budget deadline. Legislators completed voting on budget legislation later in the day.
The 2019-2020 state budget totals $175.5 billion, maintains a 2% spending cap for the ninth year, and eliminates a $2.3 billion projected deficit. The plan increases education aid by nearly $1 billion, includes several measures intended to increase access to voting and raise major capital assistance for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Significant provisions of the SFY 2019-2020 state budget include the following:
Major Actions:
  • Makes the 2% property tax cap permanent.
  • Creates a commission to implement public campaign financing for legislative and statewide offices, authorizing up to $100 million annually.
  • $10 million is appropriated to implement early voting, and the budget requires the State Board of Elections to establish an online voter registration system, and to transmit voter registration applications to local boards of election. Voting hours would be expanded upstate to begin at 6:00 A.M.
  • Increase from 2 hours to 3 hours the amount of time an employee may take off to vote.
  • Eliminates cash bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, and a new requirement that police officers must issue desk appearance tickets to most people charged with misdemeanors and Class E felonies, rather than making a custodial arrest.
  • The enacted budget provides new safeguards for public sector unions and extending Janus protections to local governments and guarantees the right to organize and collectively bargain.
Revenue Actions – The new budget included a number of provisions to impose new taxes and increase revenue, including:
  • In addition to administrative reforms of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the new budget includes new revenue to support MTA operations and improvements, including:
  • “Central Business District Tolling” (AKA Congestion Pricing) of vehicles south of 60th Street in Manhattan, projected to raise $15 billion.
  •  A 4.15% tax on mansions on the sale of properties valued at $25 million, estimated to yield $365 million annually.
  • An internet sales tax, to generate $160 million for local governments and $320 million for the MTA.
  • Establishes a conditional tax on carried interest, the share of profits that the general partners of private equity and hedge funds receive as compensation.
  • Enacts an excise tax on opioids.
  • Imposes a special tax on passenger car rentals outside of the metropolitan commuter transportation district.
  • Enacts a supplemental tax on vapor products, with the revenue deposited into the health care reform act resource fund.
  • Authorizes Westchester County to impose an additional rate of sales and compensating use tax.
Environment:
  • The new budget includes $300 million for the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), level funding over SFY 2018-2019. The EPF provides funding for environmental programs such as land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, enhanced recreational access, water quality improvement, and environmental justice.
  • Lawmakers reached agreement to ban plastic carryout bags and authorize a local fee on paper carryout bags, effective March 1, 2020. Various types of plastic bags would be exempt, including bags used to contain uncooked meat or fish, bulk food items, carry prescription drugs and used to deliver newspapers. Trash bags and plastic carryout bags used by a restaurant are also exempt, as well as food storage and garment bags. A county or city may opt-in to impose a five-cent fee on each paper carryout bag used at retail, with three cents going to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, and the other two cents going to the locality.
Economic Development:
  • Grants the Commissioner of Transportation authority to enter into agreements with fiber optic utilities for use and occupancy of the state right of way.
  • Extends the Empire State Film Production Credit and Empire State Film Post Production Credit for two years.
Criminal Justice:
  • Enacts a new requirement that every entity that employs police or peace officers adopt a model law enforcement “use of force” policy. These policies would include information on current law regarding use of force by police officers, and guidelines regarding excessive use of force, conflict prevention and resolution. The head of a law enforcement agency would be required to report instances of the excessive use of force to the State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
  • Reforms the State’s discovery process to require that both prosecutors and defendants share all information in their possession well in advance of trial. Defendants will also be allowed the opportunity to review whatever evidence is in the prosecution’s possession prior to pleading guilty to a crime.