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Some good news for public education and health care in state budget Leaders weight strategies on possible supplements March 31, 2005
While the plan falls short in many ways, union leaders will now turn their attention to convincing the governor to sign it into law - and push for supplemental budget bills later in the year. A letter to the governor urging him to sign the budget bills is available on NYSUT's legislative action page at politicalaction.nysut.org. Lawmakers raced to pass the final portions of the $105 billion state budget plan to meet the April 1 start of the 2005-06 fiscal year. Often criticized for middle-of-the night budget deals, legislators were determined to finish budget passage during daylight hours. The Legislature added about $1.5 billion to the governor's budget plan, an amount the governor said he may not be able to support. K-12 education For K-12 education, the Legislature's budget increases school funding by $840 million, more than the $526 million increase Pataki proposed. BOCES aid was fully restored and the Legislature rejected the governor's plan for special education cuts. You can link to district-by-district school aid estimates via stateaid.nysed.gov. Higher education For higher education, the Legislature increased operating aid by $120 million for the State and City University systems - and rejected plans to increase tuition and cut opportunity programs. Higher ed union leaders said this is nowhere near enough to fill holes left after years of underfunding. Community colleges will receive an increase of $115 per full time equivalent student, bringing the level of state aid to $2,350 per FTE. Health care For the first time, the Legislature approved a $2 million nursing recruitment and retainment program in the higher ed budget, including a loan forgiveness program for nurses seeking graduate degrees. Also for health care, the Legislature approved home health care demonstration grants proposed by the governor to encourage more people to receive health care at home. The Legislature also restored $88 million in cuts to graduate medical education. Thanks to pressure from union groups, the Legislature cut in half a new tax on hospitals, reducing the governor's proposed $300 million "sick" tax to $150 million. Campaign for Fiscal Equity NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin said the union is disappointed the new budget fails to address the Campaign for Fiscal Equity court order calling for dramatic hikes for needy schools. "Everybody had their eye on the calendar," Lubin said. "But in the rush to get it done, there's some very important unfinished business that we'll keep pushing for during the rest of the legislative session." - Sylvia Saunders |
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