Updates on the State Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget, April 2020

Dear Neighbors & Friends,

I wanted to give you an update on this year's state budget. Early last Friday
morning, the legislature passed the state fiscal year 2020-2021 budget. The budget is
broken up into ten different bills and I voted for nearly all of them. I cast my vote against
the bill that included bail rollbacks and didn't adequately fund our education system,
protect our public health, or provide adequate rental protections. There is no changing
the fact that overall, this $176 billion budget is problematic for many reasons. We faced
unprecedented financial challenges and already had a gaping budget shortfall before
the coronavirus pandemic. We fought to restore as much funding as we could to
continue investing in people and vital programs. However, there are too many things
that look like they are good compromises, but are hollow, like the sharply narrowed
criteria for home care eligibility and other cuts to Medicaid that will further harm our
most vulnerable.
I am a Libra. The astrological sign for Libras are the scales, and I find myself
seeking balance in everything. My reflections on this budget bill and others reflect the
search for balance and equity.
Last year, the state budget enacted sweeping and long overdue criminal justice
reforms to ensure New York treats all defendants fairly and equally. Our bail system
was deeply flawed, perpetuating racial bias and economic bias, leaving individuals who
couldn’t afford bail behind bars for months or even years before they had been
convicted of any crime. To remedy this, the state budget eliminated cash bail for
misdemeanors, excluding sex offense misdemeanors, and non-violent felonies, so that
we would no longer criminalize poverty.
However, in the wake of a lot of fear-mongering, Governor Cuomo and then the
State Senate proposed criminal justice rollbacks, dressed up like reform. The changes
may have sounded positive to the uninitiated, but would have rolled back rights by more
than five decades. In New York, the purpose of bail is to secure a defendant’s return to
court and nothing else. It is not about dangerousness or preventative detention. I am
relieved that the Assembly (and many Senators) fought back hard and that the
compromise bill that was reached on bail landed in a significantly better place than the
original proposals: it retains the key principle that bail is about securing a return to court,

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not preventative remand or assessment of dangerousness. The crimes added to the list
of bail-able offenses are, on the whole, low incidence crimes and the data from Rikers’
pre-bail reform supports that.
Nonetheless, I could not in good conscience vote for even this rollback because I
promised no rollbacks, because I believe in the presumption of innocence, and because
even considering such action during a pandemic spread by a virulent virus is downright
dangerous. No matter what one’s view on bail reform, we did not need to go there this
year. This will not protect anyone. It will consign pretrial detainees to illness and heaven
forbid, possibly death for an alleged crime for which they have not been convicted.
Moreover, they will be endangering corrections staff and their families. This makes no
sense to me and achieves no balance.
I am also profoundly disappointed that the bill also made steps back -- albeit
minor -- on our discovery laws, which are meant to assure the expeditious and fair
exchange of information in criminal cases. Automatic, routine and scheduled disclosure
is the norm in states around the country and in the federal system.
This budget bill also included what may look like flat funding for our schools –
and we made progress on that front; the infusion of badly needed federal dollars helped
make this flat. However, costs keep going up and the impact of the coronavirus is
astronomical ensuring that the dollars will go more quickly and translate into an effective
cut. Given the great uncertainty in the country’s economy, the future for even that flat
funding is shaky at best and will further harm students with disabilities, for example. I
am disappointed that we were not able to fund foundation aid at the level it deserves,
fund civics education or fund screening for children pre-K to 2 to determine whether
they are at risk for reading disability, but I am hopeful for the future.
This is a time to invest in the people of New York and in the structures and
institutions that care for our people and lift them up. We needed an investment budget,
not an austerity budget. We should be raising revenue, not foregoing it. We need to help
people pay their rent who have lost their jobs or been forced to close their businesses.
Approximately 1/3 of the people in this district are independent contractors and their line
of work and/or their clients are gone. My district has among the highest rents in the
state. We need to help small businesses survive and in this time when New York is on
PAUSE, ensure that they are not penalized for nonpayment through late fees and
penalties that are often part of commercial leases or by insurance companies who
refuse to cover losses as a result of COVID-19 under business interruption policies.
These people are our neighbors and our friends. They are the backbone of our
economy. It is bad public policy to enforce such provisions in the time of an historic
pandemic.
Another troubling aspect of this budget year was a scheme for the public
financing of state political campaigns and the misguided treatment of third parties which
impedes their ability to maintain a ballot line. I struggled to support this bill, but I voted
yes because it contained important progress on the environment, prevailing wages, and
other issues. I assiduously supported public financing of campaigns for a decade before
I was elected. I wanted the issue to be addressed by the legislature, and I did not favor
a commission-centered approach, created in last year’s budget, whose proposal was
adopted in this budget. You can​ ​read my letter to the Commission here,​ ​which explains

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my support for a plan built on the successful New York City campaign finance system,
and against the Governor’s proposal to restrict matching contributions only to those
coming from a candidate’s district, which negatively impacts poorer districts.
Many tough choices had to be made in this budget. There were several plans
that had to be put aside for now. However, our vision for these initiatives remains and
our work is far from done. Last week, we also passed a resolution to ensure that the
Assembly can vote remotely in emergency situations, and so while the budget is done,
the legislative session is not.
Despite difficult circumstances, we were able to accomplish some things that I
am very proud of, like the Mother Nature Environmental Bond Act, prevailing wages
which extend worker protections to more construction projects, funding for enhanced
election technology and the census, paid surrogacy, and protections for victims of
domestic violence. For other key budget highlights, please see below.
It is also important to note that New York can't do it alone – we need the federal
government to pass stimulus legislation to help drive funds to our state to help reduce
the harm of economic impacts, like rental payments for those who are now without jobs.
For a​ video of my remarks on this budget bill, click here​.

My office is still here to serve you remotely. We are frequently checking our
emails (​simonj@nyassembly.gov​) and voicemails (718-246-4889).
Sincerely,

Jo Anne Simon

Budget Highlights:
Protecting Domestic Violence Victims from Gun Violence​: No domestic violence
(DV) offender should be able to get a firearm in New York or elsewhere. I am pleased to
announce that the budget included my bill A9938/S7792 (Simon/Persaud) which
mandates that District Attorneys report DV convictions to the New York State Division of
Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), which in turn reports convictions to the FBI for
inclusion in the NICS database. This would keep them from purchasing a weapon in any
state. Previously, reporting to DCJS was discretionary, leading to a serious
underreporting of this data by district attorneys, with 12 counties reporting no such
convictions since 2011.
Sick Leave Extension​: A ​law​ passed earlier this year extends sick leave to those
quarantined due to COVID. The budget expands access to annual sick leave,
anti-retaliation and job protections to all private sector employees beginning in January
2021.

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Surrogacy Passes​: The budget allows for paid gestational surrogacy arrangements to
give more New Yorkers the opportunity to start or expand their family, effective Feb. 15,
2021.
Prohibitions on Flavored Vaping​: The budget prohibits the sale of flavored vapor
products unless approved by the FDA and aligns shipping restrictions for vapor
products with those currently in place for tobacco products. These products have
specifically been targeted to kids.
Increased Funding for Unemployment Insurance (UI)​: New Yorkers have lost their
jobs through no fault of their own and need our undivided support, which is why we’ve
increased funding for UI benefits to help lift up those who are out of a job and struggling
to make ends meet. The budget includes an additional $43 billion for various state and
federal UI benefits, as well as an additional $1.05 billion for administration costs.
Excelsior Jobs Program​: The budget extends this program, which helps our local
businesses expand and bring new jobs to the state, while also providing tax credits and
other cost-saving methods to eligible small businesses and construction projects. The
budget also provides enhanced tax credits for projects that aim to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and support the use of clean energy.
Prevailing Wages​: The current public health crisis has only reemphasized this pertinent
issue and made it clear that a fair wage should be a universal right. The budget requires
payment of a prevailing wage on construction work that is paid for in its entirety or in
part out of public funds, and where the amount of such funds is at least 30% of total
construction costs and such project costs are over $5 million.
Education​: The budget included a total of $27.9 billion in education funding, an
increase of $93.2 million – or 0.3% – over the previous year. It also maintains
Foundation Aid at last year’s level. It utilizes $1.1 billion in Federal Title I funds to
bolster state spending on school aid, allowing each district to receive a similar amount
as last year, plus or minus reimbursable aids, to avoid any year-to-year funding
reduction. It allows funding for the state share of school aid to increase throughout the
upcoming state fiscal year in tandem with increases in federal aid or improved tax
receipts. Fortunately, it also rejects the executive’s proposal to consolidate 10
expense-based aids into Foundation Aid. Unfortunately, if more federal aid does not
come through or tax receipts are below projections, some cuts could be made later in
the year.
Environment​: Even while battling the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting our environment
is one of the most pressing public policy issues before us. The budget includes a $3
billion Environmental Bond Act of 2020, which must be approved by voters, to help
reduce flood risks, protect shorelines and improve water quality. The budget also
includes a measure banning single-use styrofoam containers beginning in 2022.
Transit​: The budget provides $3 billion for the $54.8 billion 2020-24 MTA Capital Plan.
It requires the city and state to pay $3 billion each to the MTA to support the MTA
Capital Plan, and requires NYC to fund 50% of the Access-A-Ride Paratransit Service,
which provides public transit to residents with disabilities or health conditions. To help
manage the MTA’s recent revenue losses and expenses, the budget allows the MTA to

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access funds in its lockbox on a temporary basis to offset costs and obligations related
to COVID-19, and provides emergency deficit borrowing authorization. It establishes a
process for the appraisal of certain projects in the 2020-24 MTA Capital Plan, including
Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility structures, such as elevators. It provides
$25 million for the MTA School Fare Subsidy to help students and their families get to
and from school safely.
The budget also legalizes e-bikes and e-scooters statewide.
Human Services​: The budget restores $19.76 million in Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families funding that was eliminated in the executive budget proposal. It
allocates $832 million for child care subsidies. The budget continues funding the state’s
$2.5 billion for affordable housing and anti-homelessness initiatives. It increases the
bonding authority of the NYC Housing Development Corporation from $14.5 billion to
$15.5 billion to help preserve the city’s affordable housing stock.
Health​: The budget implements recommendations from the Governor’s Medicaid
Redesign Team II (MRT II). This includes many cuts to health care that are concerning,
which is one of the reasons I voted against that bill. Fortunately, the legislature at least
made $300 million in restorations to certain Medicaid providers and public hospitals,
and made some important modifications to the proposal, such as expanding the list of
authorized providers that may use telehealth services, modifying the proposal on
medication assisted treatment (MAT), and more. The bill caps insulin out-of-pocket
costs to $100 for a 30-day supply. I was also pleased that the budget ​establishes a
maternal health promotion pilot program to reduce maternal mortality.
Voting Modernization​: The budget allocates $21.8 million in anticipation of the federal
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grant funding for enhanced election technology and
security, includes centralized appropriations to allow for the use of additional anticipated
federal funds to offset costs related to COVID-19 for the 2020 federal election cycle,
and provides $16 million for expenses related to implementing online voter registration
and the state’s 20% match for HAVA funds.

This is not an exhaustive list; please let me know if you have questions about particular
items.