News in New York – Hochul and Legislature Agree on FY23 Budget, Adams to Appoint Tisch as Sanitation Commissioner

Governor Hochul and State Legislature Agree on New York State Fiscal Year 2023 Budget

Last week, Governor Hochul and the State Legislature came to an agreement on the New York State Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) Budget. The Enacted Budget totals $220 billion, an all-time high and almost a $10 billion increase from the FY22 budget due to an influx of federal funds. The final agreement includes a number of major policy items, and avoids an increase in taxes due to the state’s surplus. The Budget includes changes to the 2019 bail reform laws, a large subsidy for a new Buffalo Bills stadium, downstate casino licenses, suspension of the state’s gas tax, to-go cocktails, and the creation of the “Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government”, which will replace a Joint Commission on Public Ethics. The Budget also includes a record $31.5 billion in school aid, $20 billion multi-year healthcare investment, $4.2 billion for the Green Bond Act, and a $32.8 billion five-year capital plan for transportation infrastructure. Notable issues that were not included in the final budget were mayoral control of NYC schools and a replacement for the 421-a real estate tax break. You can find all of the enacted budget bills and documents here.

Mayor Adams to Appoint Jessica Tisch as Sanitation Commissioner

Last Thursday, it was announced that Mayor Eric Adams was poised to appoint Jessica Tisch as Commissioner of the Department of Sanitation (DSNY). Tisch will be joining DSNY from the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT), where she served as Commissioner from 2020 to January of this year. During her time at DoITT, she worked to expand Wi-Fi and other LinkNYC services to bridge the NYC digital divide, and oversaw the creation of the City’s online vaccination registration system. Prior to her time at DoITT, she worked at the NYPD, where she served as Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology. Tisch will be taking over from current DSNY Commissioner Edward Grayson, who has been with the agency for 23 years.