How Does State Budget Plan Affect Huntington?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s greets members of the state legislature before presenting his $168 billion budget proposal in Albany. Photo/Office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Gov. Andrew Cuomo presented last week his $168 billion executive state budget proposal for the 2018-2019 fiscal year to members of the New York State Legislature in Albany.

The budget represents a 2.3-percent increase from last year, despite a state deficit that currently stands at $1.8 billion.

State Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R-Northport) said, because of the deficit, he does not foresee the governor having any major issues in getting his budget passed through the state legislature.

“When you’re looking at a deficit the general feeling is bite the bullet, do what we have to do and get it done by April 1,” Raia said.

Local school district spending is the largest component of local property taxes for Huntington residents, and it continues to be one of the largest areas of state spending.

Cuomo’s executive budget allocates $26.36 billion in state school aid from the state operating fund for the 2018-19 school year, an increase of $769 million from the year before.

Raia praised the move saying, “The more money we can bring home to our schools through state aid, the less we have to try and bring in through taxes.”

Another budget item that hits close to home for many Huntington residents is the governor’s efforts to establish an opioid epidemic surcharge on prescription drugs.

The executive budget imposes a new surcharge of two cents per milligram of active opioid ingredient on prescription drugs; according to budget documents this new surcharge could raise an estimated $127 million in 2019.

The budget directs all proceeds into the Opioid Prevention and Rehabilitation Fund, with the goal of cutting opioid related deaths in half by 2021 through treatment, recovery and prevention services.

Raia said he supported ideas to combat the opioid crisis, but was waiting to see “some of the details and the minutia with respect to taxing opioids at 2 cents.”

“A lot of these questions I will be asking of the state health commissioner in my role as the ranking member on the health committee, and I’ll be asking those questions during the first week of February at the budget hearings,” Raia said.

Many of the details of the budget are not yet finalized because, Raia said, “This governor does do a lot of negotiation with the legislature, even though he doesn’t really have to.”