Senator Catherine Young (R-Olean)
ALBANY – Senator Catharine Young and her Republican colleagues in the Senate have announced their plan to fully restore the Gap Adjustment Elimination (GEA) funding for local school districts in this year’s state budget.
The GEA has been repeatedly cited by local school districts – including Jamestown – as their biggest fiscal constraint. The cut was originally instituted in 2010 by Senate Democrats in an effort to reel in state spending, despite opposition by Senator Young and her Republican colleagues. An although some restorations to the funding were made last year, Young says that school districts still have an outstanding balance to return to pre-GEA funding levels..
“Our schools are desperately in need of this aid and with each year that passes our local property taxpayers are being forced to bear this added burden. I’ve heard from parents, teachers and administrators who have all stressed the importance of eliminating the GEA. Our taxpayers need the relief and our school districts need the support,” Senator Young said.
During last year’s state budget negotiations, on Senate Republicans’ insistence more than $602 million was included in GEA restorations. The majority of these funds went to high need school districts, like the ones represented by Senator Young. This year Senator Young and the Senate Republican Conference have made the complete restoration of the GEA their number one priority.
The 2014-15 State Budget included a GEA restoration for Chautauqua County schools of over $6 million, leaving them more than $6.6 million left to be restored to full funding.
Young says in the coming days and week, the Senate will work to put the restorations in the Senate’s amended state budget, with hopes that it will remain once the Senate and Assembly finalize the 2015-16 state budget before the April 1 deadline.
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