Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing to allocate $2.4 billion to address the migrant crisis in New York City even as she calls for cuts in aid to some schools.
Hochul unveiled a budget proposal that totaled $233 billion to the state legislature in Albany on Tuesday.
“New York continues to carry the burden of sheltering more than 69,000 migrants,” said Hochul. “We must support the mayor of New York in this moment.”
The plan includes $1 billion to reimburse the city for expenses related to the migrant crisis, $500 million to help pay for services like health care and security for migrants, and $400 million to pay for migrant shelters.
The budget also proposes to cut aid to some schools, according to Budget Director Blake Washington. He said that the government had a “hold harmless” practice that guaranteed schools they would not receive less aid from one year to the next, but that was being suspended.
“We’re trying to moderate our spending to match the cash on hand,” Washington said in a statement to Newsday. “We want to spend the money wisely.”
However, overall school spending will increase by 2.4% to $35.3 billion.
Hochul said that she would also head to Washington, D.C., in order to demand that the federal government do more to address the migrant crisis. Polls have shown that Democratic voters blame politicians on the left for the adverse effects of the influx of migrants.
The final budget will need to be approved by the legislature and must be completed by April.
Hochul had been previously engaged in a very public feud with the mayor of New York City, who has complained that the state hasn’t done enough to support the city’s efforts to deal with migrants. Hochul has fired back that the city is better prepared to deal with migrants than the more rural areas of the state.
On Tuesday, Mayor Adams approved a plan to implement curfews at migrant shelters in order to address complaints from residents.
Here’s more about the New York budget:
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