Sen. Gounardes: State Budget Has Lots of Dollars, Not Enough Sense

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 8, 2025

New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes issued the following statement today regarding the FY2026 New York State budget:

“This year’s inexcusably late state budget misses the mark, and simply doesn’t do enough to tackle the affordability crisis or support working families. New Yorkers are looking to their leaders for bold action to address the problems facing our state. Instead, this budget represents a gross misalignment of priorities—it nickel-and-dimes programs that families rely on while spending billions on dubious tax breaks and gimmicks that won’t make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

“We had a generational opportunity to slash child poverty and grow the middle class by passing my Working Families Tax Credit, a game-changing policy that would’ve given families up to $1,600 per child for essentials like groceries and rent, as recommended by the Governor’s own Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council. Instead, New Yorkers will get a paltry, one-time ‘rebate check’ for a few hundred dollars and a miniscule tax cut—eventually. And while expanding the child tax credit for young children is better than nothing, the vast majority of families will get a credit that doesn't come close to the rising cost of living that is pushing them to the brink.

“While the budget includes some important investments—particularly in the MTA’s capital plan, a limited homelessness prevention voucher program, and a birth grant for some children on public assistance—it falls short in too many other ways. It fails to meaningfully expand access to free afterschool programming, once again leaving Brooklyn families hanging. It does not continue the state’s commitment to fully funding statewide universal pre-K. It does not meaningfully address housing affordability. And it doesn’t even extend the governor’s community college tuition plan to the handful of SUNY and CUNY colleges, like City Tech and Medgar Evers in Brooklyn, that offer associate degrees in high-demand fields, a small investment that would’ve transformed the lives of countless working-class and first-generation students who most need support.

“With the federal government threatening to shred the social safety net and defund programs New Yorkers rely on, now is not the time to be complacent. We need to prove we can solve New Yorkers’ problems. We need to prove we can make their lives better. We need to deliver quality schools, affordable housing, reliable public transit and accessible childcare. Now is not the time to shrink from these challenges but to rise to the occasion. Our future depends on it.”

Press Contact:

Billy Richling

Communications Director

State Senator Andrew Gounardes

billy@senatorgounardes.nyc

###