Each year, New York lawmakers face a high-stakes deadline: passing the state budget by April 1, coinciding with the start of the new fiscal year.
While the budget may seem like an accounting exercise that leads to a dense, numbers-heavy document, it is in fact a policy blueprint that shapes nearly every aspect of life in the Empire State—from public transportation and healthcare to environmental protection and clean energy investments.
The budget is one of the key opportunities for NYLCV to advance policies that fight climate change, protect public health, and promote sustainability. But how does the process work? Let’s break it down.
The annual budget process in New York is a months-long negotiation between the governor, the State Senate, and the Assembly.
The process begins in mid-January, when the governor releases the Executive Budget proposal. This massive spending plan outlines the administration’s priorities for the coming year, detailing how she envisions state funds being allocated.
It also includes legislative proposals that are folded into the budget, a practice that has increasingly made the budget a vehicle for policy-making, not just spending.
[Read Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget; Read NYLCV’s Response.]
Following the release of the Executive Budget, various legislative committees host budget hearings where the governor’s team and agency heads as well as advocates and other stakeholders have an opportunity to weigh in on key issues and voice concerns.
After weeks of review and debate, both the State Senate and the Assembly release their own proposals, officially referred to as one-house budget resolutions. These documents reflect each chamber’s spending priorities, which in some cases align but in many cases diverge from the governor’s proposal.
[Read NYLCV’s response to the State Senate and Assembly One-House Budgets.]
The passage of the one-house budgets sets the stage for the next phase: three-way negotiations between the governor, the Senate, and the Assembly. Despite the infamous “three men in a room” reference—these days the company is mixed with Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie leading negotiations.
The goal is to strike a final deal by April 1, but late budgets are not unusual in New York. In fact, the state has only met its budget deadline in about half of the past 40 years. In 2004, a state court ruling imposed stricter timelines on the process, improving timeliness in subsequent years.
Once a deal is reached, the Legislature votes on a series of bills that comprise the budget, which is then signed into law by the governor.
As budget negotiations head into the final stretch, keep an eye on our tracker to follow where our priorities stand, and we strongly encourage everyone to take action via the links below to connect directly with your representatives and the governor. The more of us they hear from, the more likely it is they will pass a final budget that prioritizes a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for all New Yorkers.
Follow the links below to urge Governor Hochul and state legislators to support:
Solar Energy and BESS Tax Credits
The Environmental Protection Fund