Senator Phillips Announces Passage of 2017-18 State Budget

     Senator Elaine Phillips (R-Manhasset) announced passage of the 2017-18 New York State Budget that protects taxpayers, takes steps to make living and working on Long Island more affordable and expands opportunities for all. 

     “This budget delivers on the priorities Long Island needs; tax relief, more state aid from Albany, economic development and environmental protection.  All of these are positive steps forward which will make life better, and more affordable, for hardworking Long Island families,” said Senator Phillips.

     The budget addresses the following priorities as follows:

     Tax Relief:

• Delivers over $3.1 billion for the STAR school tax relief program.
• Blocks changes that would have resulted in a cap on the amount of STAR savings homeowners could receive.
• Expands tax credits to help make child care more affordable for middle class families.  
• Enhances tuition assistance programs to make a college education more accessible and affordable for working families.

     Increasing State Aid to Long Island:

• Delivers record state education aid to schools, with Nassau County schools receiving over $1 billion in aid from Albany in the coming year, $56 million more than last year.
• Invests over $15.6 million in state transportation aid for Nassau County, its three townships and the villages within the 7th Senate District to repair and improve their roads and bridges.
• Provides more state funding for NICE Bus to help prevent proposed service cuts.

     Economic Development & Job Creation:

• Enacts sensible reforms to the workers compensation system to help businesses, local governments and nonprofits achieve meaningful savings, while also enhancing protections in place for injured workers.
• Makes a record investment in job training and workforce development initiatives to help people learn the skills needed to fill in-demand jobs.

     Protecting Our Water and Environment:

• Invests a record $2.5 billion in clean water infrastructure to help repair and improve existing water infrastructure, expand use of clean water technology and install sewers to help reduce nitrogen pollution.
• Includes new measures requiring all public water providers to test for 1,4-dioxane and other emerging contaminants.
• Creates a new drinking water quality council to set science-based standards on dealing with new and emerging contaminants.
• Continues $300 million in record level funding for the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to help ensure clean water and clean air.

     Helping Our Communities:

• Provides record level funding, $214 million, to help fight the heroin and opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment recovery and education services.
• Increases funding for veterans’ programs, including peer to peer counseling and veteran to veteran support services.
• Boosts support for senior services programs.
• Ensures direct care and clinical professionals are paid fair wages.