Long Island lawmakers question why New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed spending billions of dollars for migrants in her proposed executive budget.
“Governor Hochul wants to spend $2.4 billion for migrant aid while cutting (aid) to Long Island schools? Already underfunded districts are supposed to go with even less? We are apparently being punished for voting against her. This one we fight to the end,” said Senator Jack Martins on “X”, formerly known as Twitter.
The $2.4 billion for migrants is part of the $232.7 billion budget Governor Hochul proposed for fiscal year 2025.
“That number is going to be a lot higher once Assembly and Senate Democrats get a hold of it,” New York State Assemblyman Dave DiPietro (R-East Aurora) told the South Shore Press.
This is the first time Governor Hochul offered specifics on the migrant crisis and how much she would spend on it, considering in her State of the State address the word itself was mentioned only once out of her 7,011 word, one hour, one minute long speech.
“If you’re trying to find the reason why so many people have fled the state, why NYers don’t feel safe and continue to get nickeled and dimed to death, look no further than Albany Democrats,” Senator Mark Walczyk said on the @NYSenateGOP “X” (formerly Twitter) page.
Governor Hochul hoped the federal government would kick in more cash to manage the migrant crisis in New York, which is being felt most in and around New York City.
Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams implemented a 60-day limit for migrants in city shelters and housing. An estimated 68,000 migrants live in New York City shelters right now. Adams now believes the total cost of the migrant crisis can climb to $10.6 billion.
“We also know that companies won’t do business in New York if there are thousands of people sleeping on the streets, or the quality of life is dramatically impacted because the city is forced to cut essential services,” said Hochul to reporters in Albany following her announcement of $2.4 billion in spending on migrants.
The final amount spent on migrants could most definitely increase. The $2.4 billion for migrants is the baseline proposed by Governor Hochul. Legislative leaders in both the New York State Senate and Assembly could increase that amount when negotiating a final budget deal.
"I'm not thrilled to have to spend any money on the migrant crisis,” said Republican Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay.
So far the Biden administration has allocated $150 million to New York State specifically for the migrant crisis.