ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A look at some of the details from the $175 billion New York state budget proposal released by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday: EDUCATION Increase aid by $956 million for a total of $27.7 billion, including another $338 million in Foundation Aid, the general operating funding for school districts. Continued transformation of struggling schools into community hubs would get another $50 million for a total of $250 million. Expanded pre-kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds in high-need school districts would get an additional $15 million. HEALTH CARE Prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 21. Pass legislation strengthening women's access to abortion services by codifying the protections from Roe v. Wade into state law and making the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision part of the state Constitution. VOTING REFORM Cuomo supports the state electoral reforms passed Monday by the Legislature, including early voting, consolidating primaries, same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting. Cuomo also wants all polling places to open at 6 a.m. for primaries. In most of upstate New York, polls don't open until noon for primaries. NYC CONGESTION TOLL The governor proposes a new congestion toll on vehicles heading below 60th Street in Manhattan starting in 2021. He hasn't suggested a toll amount, however, or whether discounts would be given to small businesses or low-income commuters. The final details will be negotiated with lawmakers. Cuomo says billions of dollars in revenue would support upgrades and repairs to the city's aging subway system. LIMOUSINE SAFETY Stricter regulating of limos in response to the October crash of a stretch limo that killed 20 people in an upstate town. Ban reconfigured limos like the modified SUV that crashed into a store parking lot in Schoharie. The dozen statutory reforms include making it a felony to remove a state-issued out-of-service sticker from a vehicle without having the vehicle cleared by the Department of Transportation. INFRASTRUCTURE Continue funding an ambitious, multi-year plan to improve highways, airports and rail facilities statewide. Projects include ongoing improvements to New York City airports and planned upgrades for Manhattan’s Penn Station. CRIMINAL JUSTICE Eliminate the statute of limitations on rape. Abolish cash bail so that only those considered a public safety threat are held pending trial. ENVIRONMENT Another $500 million for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, maintain the Environmental Protection Fund at $300 million and an additional $110 million in capital funding for state parks and historic sites. MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION Permit personal use by adults 21 and older and license retail pot shops. Give counties and large cities the power to prohibit retail pot shops within their boundaries. Taxes would be imposed at the cultivation, wholesale and retail levels, generating an estimated $300 million a year that would go to mental health and anti-addiction programs. No details yet on whether Cuomo would allow home cultivation. PLASTIC BAG BAN/BOTTLE BILL Ban single-use plastic bags given to customers, a proposal that was shot down last year by the then-Republican-controlled Senate. State environmental conservation officials would work with environmentalists and community leaders to ensure the ban doesn't have an adverse impact on lower-income New Yorkers. Expand the bottle bill to include 5-cent deposits on most non-alcoholic containers such as sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit and vegetable beverages, and ready-to-drink bottled tea and coffee. Dairy milk, milk substitutes, infant formula, syrups and flavorings would be exempted.<doc-sep>ALBANY — With state revenues dipping, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday proposed boosting overall school aid 3.6 percent, extending the “millionaires’ tax” another five years, legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana, and using monetary settlements to limit budget growth. The Democrat, who is beginning his ninth year in office, delivered a $175.2 billion budget proposal to state legislators for the fiscal year 2019-20. If adopted, it would restrict the overall spending increase to 2 percent. The governor’s budget division said revenues from New Yorkers’ personal income taxes are down by $500 million from last year’s projections as of December, and that overall revenues could decline by $1.6 billion. The governor proposed making the state’s 2 percent property tax cap permanent, rather than keeping it subject to renewals every few years. Beyond the financials, Cuomo put a heavy emphasis on nonfiscal policy initiatives popular with Democrats, touching on criminal-justice, social and voting issues, among others. It’s a signal that Democrats, with complete control of state government for the first time in years, will focus as much or more on policy measures than fiscal ones. Besides marijuana, some of those include making college aid programs available to children of people in the country illegally, a stronger abortion-rights law, changing the state’s bail system and allowing people who were sexually abused years ago to file civil lawsuits. All of those are expected to sail through the Legislature. “I believe we can have the most productive first 100 days in state history,” Cuomo said, focusing on Democrats’ wide areas of agreement. “It’s just us. We are in control. There is no one else. And I believe together we can do it.” That ruffled some Republicans. Get the Breaking News newsletter! Get the latest breaking news as it happens. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. “I understand we now have one party controlling both houses and the governor’s office, but I really didn’t hear any reaching across the aisle. I heard quite the opposite,” said Assemb. Edward Ra (R-Franklin Square). “I didn’t really leave the speech with the spirit we’re all going to work together.” Some of the governor’s high-profile initiatives lacked details and will have to be worked out with state legislators. He called for legalizing recreational marijuana for those 21 and older, creating an “Office of Cannabis Management” and a three-tiered taxing system on sales. But his budget plan doesn’t count on any revenue from it until 2021 — and then banks on $83 million the first year, far short of the $300 million Cuomo has said it will annually generate for the state. Further, his idea of letting some municipalities “opt out” of legalization severely undercuts the proposal, Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn) and others said. Similarly, Cuomo didn’t spell out a lot of details in calling for “congestion pricing.” The idea is to impose tolls to travel through Manhattan below 60th Street as a way to alleviate gridlock and funnel some money toward subway repairs. The governor suggested convening a panel to work out specifics. And his administration said the state can’t expect to begin collecting until 2021, even if the concept is approved this year. Congestion pricing will be one of three major areas of contention for suburban legislators, said Lawrence Levy, head of Hofstra University’s Center for Suburban Studies. The others: Legalizing marijuana and Cuomo’s proposal to reconfigure the distribution of education aid based on schools rather than school districts. It should be no coincidence, Levy said, that all three proposals are a bit fuzzy at this point. “The lack of details gives the governor more room to maneuver, both budgetarily and politically,” he said. On school aid — always among the most contentious issues — Cuomo called for spending $27.7 billion, an increase of $1 billion or 3.6 percent. But he also said aid should be allocated on a campus-by-campus basis, rather school district by school district. The governor said that would help needy schools, but lawmakers didn’t immediately embrace the idea. Lawmakers are supposed to adopt a budget by April 1, the beginning of New York’s fiscal year. “From a policy standpoint, it’s good that we have the governor, Assembly and Senate pretty much talking about progressive, Democratic issues that have been bottled up the last few years,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said. But he signaled lawmakers won’t be happy with some of the initiatives being included in the budget as opposed to stand-alone legislation. Tying nonfiscal items in the budget with unrelated items such as school aid gives a governor more leverage over lawmakers. “I think with the Democratic governor, Democratic Senate and Democratic Assembly there is probably not a need to do it,” Heastie said. The governor surprised some lawmakers by calling for more oversight of state contracts valued at $250,000 or more. Last year, Cuomo resisted contract oversight despite a bid-rigging scandal that resulted in the conviction of his former top aide, Joseph Percoco, several campaign donors and the head of a state university. But he also asked more from legislators, proposing to make them and their offices subject to the state’s Freedom of Information Law. Fiscal watchdogs said Cuomo’s proposed budget contained “no big departures” from his usual approach. Among the wrinkles: his call for extending the millionaires’ tax, along with all of New York’s tax rates, for five years — a longer extension than ever granted. The rates are set to expire this year. “It’s a stay-the-course budget for the governor, for better and for worse,” said E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center think tank in Albany. “For the better, he’s restraining spending and promising to put the property-tax cap in the budget. That shows he means business. For the worse, the news of the budget is the weakness of revenues.” With Michael Gormley and Rachelle Blidner<doc-sep>ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — From tax cuts to legalizing marijuana, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday unveiled a muscular something-for-everyone agenda designed to make him the strong man in New York state. CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer has more on the governor’s State of the State and budget speech. The very first thing Cuomo did was show how he exploded the last remnants of the Tappan Zee Bridge, an event that took place Tuesday morning on the Hudson River. “So, we’re off with a bang,” Cuomo said. WATCH: Gov. Cuomo delivers State of the State budget address: And then it was off to the races with a lengthy list of proposals for the first 100 days of his third term, proposals that pundits say will serve him in good stead if he enters another race — the one in 2020. Cuomo called for: Middle class tax cuts Increased aid for poor schools A green new deal — 100 percent clean energy by 2040 Eliminating the statute of limitations for rape Legalizing sports betting MORE: Gov. Cuomo Includes Limo Safety Reform In Budget Plan He also put his imprint on legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for those over the age of 21. “Counties and large cities can opt out,” he said. And passing congestion pricing, which the governor said would go into affect in 2021. Cuomo did not say what the fee would be to enter the Central Business District below 60th Street in Manhattan, but he did say it would raise $15 billion for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “Is that enough money, the $15 billion, to solve the problems? We don’t think so,” Cuomo said. He said the city and state should split the shortfall 50-50. WATCH: David Birdsell analyzes Cuomo’s State of the State address: Staten Island Republican Sen. Andrew Lanza was just one of the lawmakers raising questions. “Don’t charge the people of Staten Island for the privilege of traveling throughout their own city,” Lanza said. Many saw the speech as a Cuomo attempt to move further to the left. “The governor is competing not only with Bill de Blasio, but with, apparently, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as well. He wants to be the most progressive governor in the state of New York,” Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, R-Brooklyn/Staten Island, said. “Politically, the governor was playing leapfrog with Mayor (Bill) de Blasio and the progressive members of the new Democratic Senate. He came out with a number of very progressive proposals, some old, some new, some borrowed, but all very, very blue,” Hofstra University political pundit Larry Levy said. For the record, Mayor de Blasio applauded many of the governor’s liberal pronouncements, even taking part in standing ovations, but he didn’t move a muscle when the governor said he should pay more for the MTA. The governor also pointed out that schools in poor New York City neighborhoods get 16 percent less money than schools in wealthier neighborhoods.<doc-sep>Your guide to living in the Capital Region, Catskills, Hudson Valley New in town? Looking for a change of scenery? Find your new home or apartment.<doc-sep>
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo releases his annual state budget proposal to a New York Legislature that's controlled by Democrats for the first time in a decade. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo released his annual state budget proposal to a New York Legislature that's controlled by Democrats for the first time in a decade.Cuomo presented an approximately $170 billion spending plan to the Assembly and Senate Tuesday afternoon in a theater in the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany.After a mid-December speech and a New Year's Day inauguration address in which he outlined his progressive agenda for 2019, the third-term governor combined the traditional State of the State speech with the mandated release of his spending plan for the fiscal year that begins April 1.Among Cuomo's top priorities is legalizing recreational marijuana, a move expected to raise hundreds of millions in state revenues.Cuomo said he'll include safety reforms for limousines in his budget proposal in response to the Oct. 6 crash of a stretch limo that killed 20 people in Schoharie.The measure will include stricter limo and large passenger vehicle regulations in the spending plan.Cuomo's proposals include a ban on reconfigured limos like the modified SUV that crashed.Prosecutors charged the operator of the limo company with criminally negligent homicide, alleging he allowed an improperly licensed driver to operate a vehicle deemed unserviceable by state inspectors.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.Cuomo's state budget will also propose a statewide ban on plastic shopping bags, expanded early voting regulations and raising the age to buy tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo released his annual state budget proposal to a New York Legislature that's controlled by Democrats for the first time in a decade. Cuomo presented an approximately $170 billion spending plan to the Assembly and Senate Tuesday afternoon in a theater in the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany. After a mid-December speech and a New Year's Day inauguration address in which he outlined his progressive agenda for 2019, the third-term governor combined the traditional State of the State speech with the mandated release of his spending plan for the fiscal year that begins April 1. Among Cuomo's top priorities is legalizing recreational marijuana, a move expected to raise hundreds of millions in state revenues. Cuomo said he'll include safety reforms for limousines in his budget proposal in response to the Oct. 6 crash of a stretch limo that killed 20 people in Schoharie. The measure will include stricter limo and large passenger vehicle regulations in the spending plan. Cuomo's proposals include a ban on reconfigured limos like the modified SUV that crashed. Prosecutors charged the operator of the limo company with criminally negligent homicide, alleging he allowed an improperly licensed driver to operate a vehicle deemed unserviceable by state inspectors. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Cuomo's state budget will also propose a statewide ban on plastic shopping bags, expanded early voting regulations and raising the age to buy tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21.