ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, lawmakers finalized the more than $200 billion state budget over 20 days after it was originally due. One of the big issues behind that delay was housing.
Ruthanne Visnauskas, the Commissioner of Homes and Community Renewal with the state, explained the reasoning behind this year’s housing budget. Out of the $650 million going toward pro-housing communities, legislators allocated $500 million to build up to 15,000 new homes on state land.
As Visnaukas explained, housing supply ultimately helps the state economy overall. “When a company wants to grow and expand—which we certainly want for New York State; we’ve had tremendous job growth over the past ten years,” she said. “We’ve created over a million jobs in the state of New York, which is just an incredible record. But all of those people need to be able to find somewhere to live, and I have often heard companies saying, ‘Our employees cant find anywhere to live.’ So, that supply focus is really critical to our growth as an economy.”
Also this week, Brian Fessler—the Director of Governmental Relations for the New York State School Boards Association—analyzed the final funding for school aid in the state budget. He explained that, while educators may have mixed feelings about aid, a study reworking the Foundation Aid Formula will provide valuable fresh data on school aid.
“The expectations upon school districts to support students—both personally but also academically,” said Fessler. “Determining what kind of impact those pressures and challenges that students and schools face, may impact where these final numbers be with regard to the study end up
To see these interviews and more, here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York: