STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo and leaders of the New York Legislature announced an agreement on the this year’s $212 billion budget.
It will include funding for mobile sports betting, a record $29.5 billion for schools aid, and $29 billion for green economy investments, according a Cuomo media release.
“Thanks to the State’s strong fiscal management and relentless pursuit to secure the federal support that the pandemic demanded, we not only balanced our budget, we are also making historic investments to reimagine, rebuild and renew New York in the aftermath of the worst health and economic crisis in a century,” the governor said.
The state expects mobile sports betting to provide more than $500 million in revenue with $5 million annually to youth sports, and $6 million to combat problem gambling.
Two companies will be chosen to provide platforms for at least four operators to administer the mobile sports betting, according to a media release.
The 10-bill legislative package will also include $2.4 billion for rent and homeowner relief, $2.4 billion for child care, $2.1 billion for excluded workers, $1 billion for small business recovery, according to the media release.
A “first-in-the-nation” program aimed at making broadband internet affordable, and reforms to nursing homes — a controversial topic for the governor.
The FBI and Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office are investigating the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in the earliest days of the pandemic.
The full budget package has yet to pass the New York Legislature in the Senate and the Assembly, but is expected to include $4 billion in increased revenue through more taxes on rich New Yorkers and corporations.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said “(working) and middle-class taxpayers will receive the relief they desperately need, while the wealthiest New Yorkers will help their neighbors.
“New York State approached this year’s budget with many challenges and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” she said. “However, driven by a commitment to long-term equity and prosperity for all, we have accomplished a great deal. I am proud of the strides we have made in funding our schools, helping businesses rebuild, and protecting New York’s most vulnerable.”
