2023-24 Final State Budget Summary

Electrification of new building construction
The budget imposes a first-in-the-nation state ban on natural gas and other fossil fuels in new construction. Specifically, it directs the NYS Fire Prevention & Building Code Council to prohibit the installation of fossil fuel equipment and building systems (including gas stoves) in new buildings 7 stories or less beginning December 31, 2025. Large buildings greater than 100,000 square feet would be exempt. The prohibition on the installation of fossil fuel equipment and buildings systems would apply to all new buildings on and after December 31, 2028.

Exemptions from the prohibition include systems used:

For emergency backup power and standby power;
In a manufactured home; and
In a building or part of a building that is used as a manufacturing facility, commercial food establishment, car wash, laundromat, laboratory, hospital or other medical facility and critical infrastructure.
Exemptions from the electrification requirement are also permitted where electric service cannot be reasonably provided by the grid, as determined by the Public Service Commission.

The budget also creates a Climate Action Fund that will consist of revenues from a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. DEC will release draft plans by 2024 for a limit on total carbon emissions allowed statewide and the potential number of carbon credits that companies could bid for instead of cutting their emissions. This fund will consist of 3 accounts:

Consumer climate action account (At least 30% of revenues to provide benefits and rebates to help reduce the potential increased costs of goods and services for consumers).
Industrial small business climate action account (Up to 3% of revenues to provide benefits to reduce costs to small businesses).
Climate investment account (At least 67% of revenues to be be used to fund projects design to help transition to a less carbon intensive economy).

The budget also includes the Build Public Renewables Act, which requires all state-owned properties that receive power from the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to run on renewable energy by 2030. It will also require municipally owned properties – including many hospitals and schools, as well as public housing and public transit – to switch to renewable energy by 2035.

“Good cause” eviction
“Good cause” eviction legislation was excluded from the budget.

Bail reform
The budget amends the 2019 bail reform laws in order to allow judges more discretion to set bail in violent cases by no longer being required to impose the “least restrictive” means at arraignment.

Minimum wage increase
Downstate, the hourly rate will increase to $16 an hour from its current $15 an hour. Upstate, the rate will increase from $14.20 an hour currently to $15 an hour. Both will increase by 50 cents to hit $17 an hour and $16 an hour, respectively, by 2026. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2027, the wages will be annually indexed to inflation based on the Consumer Price Index.

Lead paint in rentals outside of NYC
The budget directs the Department of Health (DOH) to develop a registry for all residential rental dwellings in communities of concern as identified by the DOH, built prior to 1980 with 2 or more units outside of NYC. Owners of these dwellings will need to certify as free of lead paint hazards or remediate their properties in accordance with municipal laws and regulations. The DOH will be required to annually inspect and audit at least 10 percent of the dwellings on the registry in-person. Failure to file a certificate, or the filing of a false certificate, could result in civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation.

ERAP for public housing
The budget includes $391 million for the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to be directed to public housing residents and renters with federal Section 8 vouchers. These renters were excluded from previous rounds of rental assistance through ERAP.

Extension of completion date for 421-a projects in NYC
The budget includes an extension of the completion deadline for 421-a projects commenced between December 31, 2015 and June 15, 2022 by four years from June 15, 2026 to June 15, 2030.

Taxes
The budget will not raise any personal income tax rates. Progressives in the Legislature were pushing for a PIT rate increase on individuals earning more than $5 million a year. The budget extends the state’s corporate tax hike through 2027, keeping the tax rate for the state’s top corporations at 7.25 percent.

Public campaign finance
The budget includes $39.5 million for New York’s newly formed public campaign finance system of elections, in which low-dollar donations can be matched with public money. State lawmakers initially considered delaying implementation of the program, however agreed to funding in the budget which will be active for the current 2024 election cycle.

Education
The budget provides a $3 billion increase in state aid to public schools, totaling $34 billion – NYC public schools receiving one-third of that overall funding. The budget will also allow for the revival of 22 “zombie” charter schools (14 of them being in NYC) which have either closed or never opened.