2016-17 Summary of New York State Enacted budget School Aid The final budget includes an increase of $1.4 billion for Foundation aid, GEA elimination and expense based aids. Foundation aid is increased by $626.6 million. GEA is fully eliminated which reflects a restoration of $433.6 million. Expense based aids are fully funded at approximately $340 million. There is also an allocation of $75 million for persistently struggling and struggling schools to transform into community schools and a community schools set aside of $100 million within the foundation aid number. Receivership and Community Schools During final budget negotiations, a proposal to amend the existing receivership law was put forth that would have mandated districts which have recently come out of priority status and off of the receivership list to be placed back into receivership. The advocacy campaign carried out by NYSUT and our education coalition partners was able to defeat this harmful proposal and was ultimately not included in the final enacted budget. In addition, $100 million from the foundation aid allocation has been set aside to fund new community schools statewide. School districts, detailed in statute, will have to use this set aside amount for community school transformation, including a community school site coordinator or other efforts to improve student achievement. There is also a community school allocation for persistently struggling and struggling schools funded at $75 million. $50 million in funding is available for operating costs to facilitate the transformation into community schools and the remaining $25 million is available for capital costs. Professional Development and Teacher Centers Teacher Centers are funded at $14.26 million. The Teachers of Tomorrow program is funded at $25 million. The Mentor/Intern program is funded at $2 million. National Board Certification is funded at $368,000. 1 P a g e
Pre-K Funding An additional $11 million was allocated for pre-k for three year olds. Special Schools There is a $2.3 million increase in funding to 4201 schools. There is a $903,000 allocation for the Henry Viscardi School, and a $903,000 allocation for the New York School for the Deaf for the 2016-17 school year. NYSUT will continue to pursue funding parity for 853, Special Act schools and public 4410 programs during the rate making process. My Brother s Keeper There is an allocation of $18 million for My Brother s Keeper to improve outcomes for boys and young men of color. Career and Technical Education A proposal to increase the aidable salary of BOCES and CTE teachers was not included in the final enacted budget. The adopted spending plan includes an allocation for $1.465 million for Early Career High School programs. School Vouchers and Tax Credits The Parental Choice in Education Act, as proposed in the Executive Budget, was not included in the final budget. No back door voucher schemes were included in the final budget. Charter Schools Due to the strong advocacy efforts of NYSUT and its members and education coalition partners, nearly all of the harmful policy language on charter schools was not included in the final budget. A $54 million increase, or $430 per pupil, was included in the final budget for charter schools. These funds will be paid for entirely by the state. The NYC charter school rent aid was made permanent and language was included to streamline applications by which charter schools could apply for co-location. APPR A provision to de-link APPR from school aid was not included in the final budget. Tax Cap There was no language included in the final budget amending the Tax Cap law. 2 P a g e
Mayoral Control There was no language included in the final budget addressing mayoral control of schools. Specialized High Schools There is a $2 million allocation for test prep and support for underrepresented students and students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch in regards to specialized high school admission. Contracts for Excellence Language was included in the final budget that states, if a school district submitted a Contract for Excellence for the 2015-16 school year, they must submit a new contract for the 2016-17 school year unless all schools in the district are identified as in good standing. Non-Public Schools There was $15 million provided to non-public schools for school safety. School Transportation and Contracting Language to establish a forgiveness program for districts that did not have transportation contracts approved on time, was not included in the final budget. Provisions to makes transportation contact extensions based on the Employment Cost Index, rather than the Consumer Price Index, was not included in the final budget. School Auditing and Bond Votes Language to allow less school auditing, and the language to mandate a certain date for bond votes, was not included in the final budget. Early Intervention A proposal to alter the early intervention process for students with special needs was not included in the final budget. Special Education Mandate Relief Language to allow for special education flexibility was not included in the final budget. Safety Plan Enhancements Modifications to school safety plans were included in the final budget. These modifications include changes on parental notification of incidents, annual training and reassessment of plans and drills. 3 P a g e
Higher Education The enacted budget does not include the DREAM Act but increases TAP funding by $19 million. SUNY SUNY 2020 was not extended in the enacted budget and tuition for in-state residents was frozen. However, the enacted budget allows SUNY to increase out-of-state tuition for a year. SUNY operating aid decreased by $4.7 million due to the elimination of additional funding for personal services included in last year s budget. Funding ($18 million) previously designated for the continuation of performance-based funding has been repurposed to cover operating costs and is available for services and expenses for four-year campuses to be distributed to a plan approved by the Board of Trustees. SUNY Capital The enacted budget increases Capital funding by $70.7 million. Upstate University Hospital and Stony Brook University Hospital each received an additional $50 million in capital funding. Upstate University Hospital received $75 million in capital funds which will be used to match funding awarded through the Capital Restructuring Finance Program. The enacted budget includes additional funding for the Educational Opportunity Program ($5.3 million), Educational Opportunity Centers ($5 million) and ATTAIN Labs ($2 million). SUNY Hospitals Funding for SUNY hospitals was increased by $18.6 million and restored to the 2015-16 Enacted Budget level. The Senate s one-house budget proposal to allow for a private equity pilot and study were rejected and not included in the final budget. The enacted budget also included the reappropriation of $700 million for Health Care Facility Transformation within Kings County. CUNY The enacted budget held CUNY operating aid relatively flat and did not include a proposal to shift 30 percent ($485 million) of the cost of senior-colleges to New York City. SUNY 2020 was not extended in the enacted budget and student undergraduate tuition was frozen. Funding ($12 million) previously designated for the continuation of performance-based funding has been repurposed to cover operating costs and will be available for services and expenses for four-year campuses to be distributed to a plan approved by the Board of Trustees. The enacted budget increases opportunity program funding and includes an additional $4.7 million in funding for SEEK. 4 P a g e
CUNY Capital The enacted budget increases capital funding by $80.7 million. SUNY/CUNY Community Colleges An additional $100 per FTE was included for community colleges in the enacted budget. Child care center funding was restored to the 2015-16 levels. The Senate s one-house proposal to not allow community colleges to collect the local share for nonresidents enrolled in bachelor s and master s degree programs was not included in the enacted budget. Additionally, the enacted budget delays the implementation of the new chargeback methodology to begin 2018-19. Pension and Labor The final budget includes versions of both the proposed minimum wage increase and the Paid Family Leave proposal. Regarding the minimum wage increase, the wage was split into a multi-region wage increase in the following manner: Workers in New York City, employed by businesses with at least 11 employees, will see their wages increase to $11 per hour at the end of 2016, then $2 per hour each year after until reaching $15 per hour at the end of 2018. Workers in New York City, employed by businesses with ten employees or less, will see their wages increase to $10.50 per hour by the end of 2016, then $1.50 per-hour each year until reaching $15 per-hour at the end of 2019. Workers in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties, regardless of business size, will see their wages increase to $10 per-hour by the end of 2016, then $1 per-hour each year until reaching $15 per-hour at the end of 2021. For workers in the remainder of the state, employed by businesses of any size, the minimum wage will increase to $9.70 per-hour at the end of 2016, then another.70 per-hour each year until reaching a peak of $12.50 per-hour at the end of 2020. At that time, the minimum wage for upstate will be indexed to an inflation calculation set by the State Division of the Budget and the State Labor Department until it too reaches $15 per-hour. The final plan also includes a safety valve to allow the state to temporarily suspend these increases if the economy begins to weaken. The enacted plan does not include language to add municipal employees in the wage increases, however, the existing definition of covered employees under Article 19, Section 651 of the New York State Labor Law does include employees working in a non-teaching capacity at school districts and BOCES within the state minimum wage law, which will automatically include our SRP members in this new wage increase. In regards to the Paid Family Leave proposal, the final budget includes a new, phased in paid family leave benefit that will cover all private sector employees, with no carve outs or exemptions. Public 5 P a g e
sector employers can opt-in through collective bargaining or at employer discretion for non-union employees. The family leave insurance is separate from, but parallel to, the Temporary Disability Insurance Program. Employees will pay the full cost of this new benefit. The family leave benefit will provide paid leave for an employee to care for an infant, a family member with a serious health condition or tend to family needs related to a family member being called to active military duty. The benefit will be phased in as follows: January 1, 2018, 8 weeks of leave at 50 percent of an employee's pay, capped at 50 percent of the state's average weekly wage (AWW); January 1, 2019, ten weeks of leave at 55 percent of an employee s pay capped at 55 percent of the AWW; January 1, 2020, ten weeks of leave at 60 percent of an employee s pay capped at 60 percent of the AWW; and January 1, 2021, 12 weeks of leave at 67 percent of an employee s pay capped at 67 percent of the AWW. There could be a delay in benefit phase in for a variety of factors including excessive cost for employees. Employees are eligible to participate after working for six months and full job protection is provided for all employees who make use of the benefit. NYSUT, in coalition with other labor unions, defeated proposed changes to the Workers Compensation law which would have had a significant negative impact on injured workers and their benefits. Also missing from the budget is a promised expansion of pension credit eligibility for public employees who have served in the military. Even though the governor stated he would address this issue in the budget when he issued his second veto of a stand-alone proposal last fall, negotiations failed to yield a proposal that was agreeable to all the stakeholders involved. NYSUT will continue to press this issue until it is resolved in a favorable manner for our members. Ethics and Government Reform Ethics and government reform issues proposed by the governor were not included in the final enacted budget. These included harmful changes to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) relating to collective bargaining agreements, changes to the campaign finance law, various voter reforms and a $1 million allocation for a Constitutional Convention study commission. We expect these ethics issues, including the expansion of the pension forfeiture provisions, to be discussed during the remainder of the 2016 legislative session. Tax Issues The budget includes a phased in cut to the state personal income tax rates beginning in 2018 and ending in 2025. Couples filing jointly who earn $40,000 to $300,000 will see their tax rates drop to 5.5 percent when these cuts are fully phased in. A $30 million fund to offset property tax losses was included in the final budget, for school districts and municipalities that are facing a power plant closure. These funds will be used to mitigate the decrease in tax base and tax collection caused by the closure of these power plants. These funds will assist school districts, such as Ken-Ton schools, by offsetting the decrease in tax dollars from the closing of the Huntley Power Station. 6 P a g e
Health Care NYSUT defeated the proposal to increase health insurance premiums for state employees who are enrolled in NYSHIP and were planning on retiring on or after October 1, 2016. NYSUT also defeated the proposal to freeze the reimbursement of Medicare Part B premiums at $104.90 for NYSHIP retirees with Medicare primary insurance and also defeated the proposal to eliminate the reimbursement of the (IRMAA) Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount for certain NYSHIP retirees. Spending under the Medicaid cap (3.4%) will be $18.5 billion. Social Justice Farmworkers will also be included in the minimum wage increase. #41315 CB/ACB 4-1-16 7 P a g e