ALBANY – The effort to pass an on-time state budget for the third year in a row has cleared another hurdle. On Wednesday the Senate finished passing bills for the $135.1 Billion state budget. Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean) called the budget “soundly balanced” and “fiscally responsible” – adding that it controls spending and provides significant tax relief to families and seniors, and reduces the tax burden on small businesses and manufacturers to help create jobs.
Young highlighted the budget in a media release, saying it extends the middle-class personal income tax rate reductions enacted in 2011, which were due to expire. She said this tax cut provides 4.4 million taxpayers with $707 million in tax relief per year, and will ensure that New York’s middle-class income tax rates remain at the lowest level in 60 years.
She also noted that middle-class families with children will receive a $350 child tax credit that will be mailed to them in 2014. According to a recent report from Albany, that check won’t be mailed out until October 2014, a month prior to the next state election.
Young said the state is investing record funding in the STAR property tax relief at $3.4 billion, which is a $143 million increase over last year.
Finally, because the minimum wage will be increased over the next three years, Young said that as a trade off, Senate Republicans insisted on a number of safeguards to protect businesses from potential costs associated with the wage increase. These include a refundable credit for employers with workers under 20 years old, and three-year phase-in to give businesses more time to adjust.
The Assembly is set to act on the spending plan starting today. The deadline for a new budget to be approved is April 1.
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