29 May 2026
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A searchable database of the most consequential decisions
This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for its newsletter here.
It's two months late, but it's finally here: New York state's $269 billion budget.
The big story of this year's budget was the face-off between Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who made "tax the rich" a rallying cry of his campaign. Even as she stumped for Mamdani last fall, Hochul was adamant that she would not raise taxes on the wealthy.
In the end, they split the baby. Mamdani didn't get what he most wanted: a tax hike on New York's top earners. But he did get billions of dollars from the state to plug a hole in the city's budget, new funding for child care, and a tax on luxury second homes in New York City, giving him something to burnish his socialist cred.
Hochul and Mamdani also had to contend with major federal cuts and threats from President Donald Trump about more pain to come. The governor and mayor have managed to stay on good terms. As the budget neared completion, Mamdani said in a statement that they had "partnered through every step of the process."
The budget contains hundreds of new programs and laws. Some of the most important: limits on police collaboration with ICE, a significant weakening of the state's landmark climate law, and removal of a major barrier to new housing statewide.
We've pored over thousands of pages of budget documents to make this guide, which will tell you about several dozen of the most important decisions lawmakers made this budget cycle. In the chart below, you can see where each party stood and what made it into the final deal. Below that, you can find written descriptions using the drop-down menus. Happy reading!
Total spend: The total sum the state expects to spend over the next year is $269 billion. That's more than what the governor ($260 billion) and Assembly ($266 billion) proposed spending, and nearly what the Senate proposed ($270 billion).
Tax the rich? The budget does not hike personal income taxes or corporate taxes, despite a push by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and both legislative chambers. It does extend a pandemic-era corporate tax hike by three years — maintaining the current 7.25 percent rate through 2029.
Rainy day fund: While an exact figure for how much money is in the state's rainy day fund isn't public yet, Budget Division spokesperson Tim Ruffinen said it's about $15 billion, roughly the same as when the budget process started.
Public pensions: The state's major public sector unions won significant boosts to their workers' pension plans. Public school teachers will now be able to retire at 58 with full pensions. Many public employees will have their pension payments boosted, and their required contributions to the state pension fund lowered.
The Department of Budget has estimated that this change will cost $557 million per year. Most of that cost is expected to fall on local governments and school districts, which generally had opposed the change.
Foundation Aid: Lawmakers were successful in their push to revise the state's complicated school funding formula to better address the needs of vulnerable student populations.
While Governor Kathy Hochul's executive proposal left the Foundation Aid formula unchanged, the final budget adds a new weight for students who are homeless or in foster care and increases funding for English language learners. Districts will also receive a funding boost of at least 2 percent over last year, bringing the total Foundation Aid allocation to $27.4 billion.
CUNY funding: Funding for the City University of New York system will stay roughly the same as last year, at $6.7 billion, including over $650 million to support capital projects and infrastructure improvements. Hochul's budget would have allocated $6.4 billion to the system, while the Senate proposed $8.3 billion and the Assembly $15.1 bill...
This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for its newsletter here.
It's two months late, but it's finally here: New York state's $269 billion budget.
The big story of this year's budget was the face-off between Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who made "tax the rich" a rallying cry of his campaign. Even as she stumped for Mamdani last fall, Hochul was adamant that she would not raise taxes on the wealthy.
In the end, they split the baby. Mamdani didn't get what he most wanted: a tax hike on New York's top earners. But he did get billions of dollars from the state to plug a hole in the city's budget, new funding for child care, and a tax on luxury second homes in New York City, giving him something to burnish his socialist cred.
Hochul and Mamdani also had to contend with major federal cuts and threats from President Donald Trump about more pain to come. The governor and mayor have managed to stay on good terms. As the budget neared completion, Mamdani said in a statement that they had "partnered through every step of the process."
The budget contains hundreds of new programs and laws. Some of the most important: limits on police collaboration with ICE, a significant weakening of the state's landmark climate law, and removal of a major barrier to new housing statewide.
We've pored over thousands of pages of budget documents to make this guide, which will tell you about several dozen of the most important decisions lawmakers made this budget cycle. In the chart below, you can see where each party stood and what made it into the final deal. Below that, you can find written descriptions using the drop-down menus. Happy reading!
Total spend: The total sum the state expects to spend over the next year is $269 billion. That's more than what the governor ($260 billion) and Assembly ($266 billion) proposed spending, and nearly what the Senate proposed ($270 billion).
Tax the rich? The budget does not hike personal income taxes or corporate taxes, despite a push by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and both legislative chambers. It does extend a pandemic-era corporate tax hike by three years — maintaining the current 7.25 percent rate through 2029.
Rainy day fund: While an exact figure for how much money is in the state's rainy day fund isn't public yet, Budget Division spokesperson Tim Ruffinen said it's about $15 billion, roughly the same as when the budget process started.
Public pensions: The state's major public sector unions won significant boosts to their workers' pension plans. Public school teachers will now be able to retire at 58 with full pensions. Many public employees will have their pension payments boosted, and their required contributions to the state pension fund lowered.
The Department of Budget has estimated that this change will cost $557 million per year. Most of that cost is expected to fall on local governments and school districts, which generally had opposed the change.
Foundation Aid: Lawmakers were successful in their push to revise the state's complicated school funding formula to better address the needs of vulnerable student populations.
While Governor Kathy Hochul's executive proposal left the Foundation Aid formula unchanged, the final budget adds a new weight for students who are homeless or in foster care and increases funding for English language learners. Districts will also receive a funding boost of at least 2 percent over last year, bringing the total Foundation Aid allocation to $27.4 billion.
CUNY funding: Funding for the City University of New York system will stay roughly the same as last year, at $6.7 billion, including over $650 million to support capital projects and infrastructure improvements. Hochul's budget would have allocated $6.4 billion to the system, while the Senate proposed $8.3 billion and the Assembly $15.1 bill...