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Published on January 21, 2025
Governor Hochul Proposes $252 Billion Budget for New York with Cell Phone Ban in Schools and Millionaire Tax ExtensionSource: Unsplash/Yura Fresh

Amid New York's bustling economic upswing, Governor Kathy Hochul ushers in a sweeping $252 billion budget proposal laden with measures from tax relief to education reform. Central to her fiscal plan, as Gothamist reports, is a significant spend of $13.5 million in grants earmarked to aid school districts in implementing strict cell phone bans during school hours.

The ambitious initiative, as per Hochul's budget director Blake Washington, is to separate students from their mobile devices "from bell to bell," an effort to return focus to education in the age of digital distractions. Echoing the budget address, Spectrum News 1 states that the plan aims to reimburse school districts for the costs associated to strictly regulate cell phone use during the school day. This measure casts a symbolic net to capture the wandering attention of New York's youth and channel it back into the brick-and-mortar sanctuaries of learning.

In tandem with policies targeting the young, Hochul sets her sights on New York's financial futurity. The governor proposes to extend the higher tax rates for millionaires till 2032, a maneuver designed to bridge future budget gaps and maintain fiscal equilibrium. "We're extending the high-income surcharge," Washington told Spectrum News 1, determined to prevent a fiscal drop-off that state financial plans previously forecasted for 2028.

The state reflects this effort in its surplus—a hearty $5.3 billion. Hochul plans to strategically allocate these funds, pledging $3 billion in rebate checks for taxpayers this year, an income-tax cut to be gradually implemented across the next two years, and an expanded child tax credit. "Taxing the super-rich and wealthy corporations, redistributing that wealth into tax breaks and tax credits and robust funding for services for regular working people, I think that’s a recipe for success," Michael Kink, executive director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition, told Gothamist.

Beyond cell phones and taxes, the budget also delineates a 4.7% increment in school aid and a considerable boost in Medicaid financing in light of approximately 900,000 additional enrollees post-pandemic. Yet, these fiscal waters remain uncharted as the threat of federal cuts to programs like Medicaid looms in the horizon. Washington however maintains a vigilant stance, "We’re in a mode where we’re going to be watching, we’re going to be vigilant," he assured Gothamist.