Senator Amedore Calls for Elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (Gea)

Senator George Amedore today called for the acceleration of the elimination of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) that has devastated public schools since it was enacted in 2010. At a Capitol press conference today, Senator Amedore and his colleagues in the Republican conference  proposed to include $1 billion in the 2015-16 state budget to completely eliminate what remains of the GEA.

"Since the GEA was enacted, it has forced schools to cut educational programs, reduced services and ultimately, our children are paying the price,” said Senator George A. Amedore, Jr. “There is no better investment we can make in the future of New York than to make sure our schools are being properly funded.”

The GEA was first imposed in 2010 by former Governor David Paterson and the Democrats who controlled the Senate and Assembly. Since it was enacted, schools through the 46^th Senate District have lost out on more than $99 million in funding.

Republicans have led the charge to reduce the GEA and restore state aid to schools. GEA cuts have been reduced by 62 percent – from a high of $2.6 billion in the 2011-12 budget to $1 billion in last year’s budget. However, there is still more than $1 billion in GEA cuts anticipated for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Governor’s Executive Budget proposed up to a $1.1 billion increase in education funding over last year but the increase was not specifically tied to the elimination of the GEA.

Senator Amedore and his colleagues are working on crafting their budget proposal, and will propose a budget that uses up to $600,000 of the $1.1 billion in education funding proposed by the Governor to eliminate the GEA, and are working on identifying sources for the additional $300-400 million that would be needed this fiscal year to completely eliminate the GEA.

"We have a rare opportunity before us, and we cannot let it go to waste: we need to do the right thing and completely eliminate the GEA once and for all this year,” said Senator Amedore.

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