The New York State Budget finally passed three weeks late, and ultimately will spend $237 billion in Fiscal Year 2025, a $10 billion increase over Fiscal Year 2024. The largest drivers of state spending continue to be education and healthcare.

New York State budget officials originally projected a $4.5 billion budget deficit; however, tax receipts came in higher than anticipated and the budget was aided by an influx of $6 billion from the federal government to help safety net hospitals. The final budget does not increase income or corporate taxes and relies on slowing the state’s rate of spending.

Like most budget proposals, this one included a wide range of policy items unrelated to the state’s finances. Below is a list of provisions NFIB actively lobbied on during the budget negotiations:

• Defeated two costly expansions to benefits, which would have increased the cost of insurance premiums for small businesses:
  • No increase in Unemployment Insurance benefits
  • No increase in Short-term disability benefits
• Secured the elimination of the state’s COVID paid sick leave law (the law will be sunset on July 31, 2025).
• Defeated expansion of the general business law to include unfair or abusive business practices. This would have allowed consumers to sue businesses and recover damages.
• Secured several first steps to address the dramatic rise in retail theft incidents, including:
  • $40 million in additional funding for law enforcement and district attorneys
  • Increasing penalties for assaulting retail workers
  • Aggregating the cost of stolen goods to prosecute repeat offenders for higher penalties
  • Commerical security tax credit for small retailers