Governor Hochul Announces Investments in Western New York and Highlights Affordability Agenda

Support for Western New York Schools and Early Childhood Education

The Governor's FY27 Enacted Budget increases school aid for Western New York by $111 million - a 3.5 percent increase compared to School Year 2026 - bringing the total investment to $3.3 billion for School Year 2027. Included in the $111 million is an $80 million Foundation Aid increase - 3.6 percent from the previous year - with all districts receiving a minimum increase of 2 percent and a $33 million Universal Prekindergarten Aid increase. These efforts are putting New York on a path toward making Pre-K truly universal, and helping school districts offer services for all four-year-olds by the start of School Year 2029.

Includes $1 Billion in One-Time Energy Rebate Checks and Institutes Governor Hochul's Sweeping Ratepayer Protection Plan

With New Yorkers struggling with high energy costs and record gas prices at the pump thanks to bad federal policies, the new budget includes one-time $1 billion Protecting Our Wallets Energy Rebate (POWER) checks to help provide needed relief. The POWER program will provide $200 to joint filers with incomes under $150,000 and $150 to joint filers with incomes between $150,000 and $300,000. Single filers with incomes under $150,000 will receive $100. The rebates will be issued as advanced credit checks and will be mailed out between September and December.

This year's Enacted Budget also puts New York families ahead of big energy companies. At the heart of this effort to modernize the State's approach to regulating utilities is a commitment to ensuring energy remains affordable. Energy profits will be tied to a company's ability to perform where it matters most: people's wallets. Utilities will be prohibited from passing the costs of lobbying, glossy PR campaigns, political donations, and luxury travel to New York ratepayers. Utility CEOs will have their salaries benchmarked to achieving energy affordability goals set by the Public Service Commission (PSC). And if a utility makes excess profit, that money will be returned to ratepayers.

Secures Reforms To Lower Auto Insurance Premiums for New Yorkers

The FY27 Enacted Budget includes sweeping reforms designed to help drive down New York's exorbitantly high auto insurance rates, addressing the root causes by targeting fraud and tackling runaway litigation. No other Governor in a generation has taken on tort reform and walked away with a deal that will result in significant savings for New York consumers and businesses. The Budget also includes provisions that enable prosecutors to seek criminal penalties against any individual responsible for organizing a staged accident, not just the particular individual behind the wheel.

Delivers Reforms To Make It Easier and More Affordable To Build Housing and Critical Infrastructure

The Budget includes landmark reforms to slash through the red tape and government bureaucracy that has stymied desperately needed housing and crucial infrastructure projects by enacting Governor Hochul's "Let Them Build" agenda. The Budget includes a series of common sense changes to modernize the 50-year-old State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and expedite categories of housing and infrastructure projects consistently found not to have any significant environmental impact, eliminating unnecessary costs, duplicative reviews and years of delay that raise costs for New Yorkers when they can least afford it.