SUNY’S COMING BACK FOR MORE: SUNY Chancellor John King is gearing up to request additional funds for capital investments that would address deteriorating infrastructure, along with new construction for the 64-campus system. The governor’s budget proposal includes $650 million for capital investment, but King said that’s not enough. During a Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday he noted that SUNY needs more than $7 billion to address capital needs, and if they want to forge ahead with plans to reduce campuses’ energy footprints that number would be far higher. “Even though $650 million sounds like a lot of money, so much is being deferred, so much is being done, and if we want to find a way forward, so much investment is needed to be done,” Board of Trustees chair Merryl Tisch said at the Tuesday meeting. King said he plans to make a plea to the Legislature for additional capital funding, along with a renewed request for the state to fund an $86 million requisition to cover union contract increase. — Katelyn Cordero WHEN A PRISON CLOSES: Hochul acknowledged today the impact of shuttering as many as five prisons in the state will have on the North Country region. The vast area is home to 11 of the state’s 44 prisons. The small, rural communities that host prisons rely on the facility as a source of employment and economic activity. “It does have an impact on the community,” Hochul told reporters as she visited Lake Placid. “I want people to know I understand that.” But at the same time, the governor defended the provision in her $233 billion budget proposal that would continue the decade-long trend of closing prisons. The state’s population of people in prison 25 years ago stood at 73,000. The prison population is now at 33,000. Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, had previously argued prisons should not be a source of economic development. But many of the hulking, empty structures have not been developed for practical use. Hochul wants to change that by possibly converting many of the prisons into other uses, such as housing. “They’re beautiful properties; they’re like college campuses,” she said. “They lend themselves to so many great opportunities. It takes money and time to do that, but I’m committed to doing that.” — Nick Reisman MONEY TO ADIRONDACKS: Hochul unveiled a suite of investments to North Country communities today as part of her statewide tour to promote her proposed $233 billion budget. The town of Lowville, in Lewis County, will receive a $10 million investment through the state’s downtown revitalization initiative, Hochul announced this morning. Canton and Alexandria Bay will also receive $4.5 million each through the NY Forward program. “I view my responsibilities to be the keeper of the soul of this state,” Hochul said. “When I think about the heart, it has to be the North Country.” Hochul also announced a $13.1 million investment to help finish construction of the Adirondack Rail Trail, a 34-mile trail for hikers, bikers, cross-country skiers and snowmobile riders. Funding will come from the 2022 Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act. Construction of the trail will began in October 2020. — Jason Beeferman PAROLE JUSTICE: Leaders from the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucues are seeking the passage of two bills: the Elderly Parole Act (S.2423/A.2035), and the Fair and Timely Parole Act (S.307/A.162). Both bills aim to restructure the state parole system. According to the Times Union, they found that more than 19,000 decisions from the parole board over the last two years had some aspect of racial bias impact the outcome. “Do not get it twisted, parole justice is public safety. We know that when our elders who have experienced the worst sentences when they have the opportunity to go back into their communities, they become leaders in their communities,” state Sen. Julia Salazar, one of the sponsors, said. — Shawn Ness PLENTY OF ROOM AT THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA LAKE PLACID : Beautiful Lake Placid is opening a new hotel for the first time in over a decade. The Cambria Hotel, a $35 million project with 185 guest rooms, opened its doors today with the support of the governor and Empire State Development. The inn promises to bring at least 50 full time jobs to the area. Hochul said the new hotel is part of her efforts to boost tourism in the state, an industry which the governor says generated $123 billion in economic impact in 2022. ESD recommended a $3 million capital grant for the project, in exchange for 51 new jobs, at the time of the hotel’s groundbreaking in 2022. — Jason Beeferman FOOD AND HOUSING INSECURITY: New York’s working families are struggling to make ends meet since the Child Tax Credit expired in December 2021, a new report from the United Neighborhood Houses and Educational Alliance finds. To counter this, lawmakers are proposing the New York Working Families Tax Credit, it would be an “effective poverty-fighting tool that can put much-needed cash in the hands of New Yorkers,” a press release from state Sen. Andrew Gounardes’ office reads. The bill would increase the value of the credit to be between $500 and $1,600 per child, as well as allowing families with the lowest income to receive the most credit. “[The new report] confirms what we’ve known for years: working families are struggling to get by in New York," Gounardes said. “If we want this state to be a place where families have a shot at making it, we have to give them the resources to take that shot.” — Shawn Ness CONGESTION PRICING: The Municipal Labor Committee — an umbrella group for 102 public sector unions — voted to file an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit to stop the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s congestion pricing plan. Committee chair Harry Nespoli questioned the MTA’s decision to approve the plan to charge a $15 toll for most drivers to enter lower Manhattan without looking into the effects on the outer boroughs Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and the city’s teachers union filed a lawsuit earlier this month urging the MTA to complete a rigorous environmental impact statement, including potential impacts on air quality in Staten Island and the Bronx. “Why didn’t they do more research on the outer boroughs as far as the air quality before you just rush right into this thing?,” committee chairman Harry Nespoli said in an interview. — Madina Touré
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