Scenic Hudson Commends Governor Hochul and New York State Legislature for Budget that Focuses on Crucial Environmental Issues

April 22, 2024

For Immediate Release

CONTACT:

Pete Lopez, Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Science
518 378 8039, plopez@scenichudson.org
Carli Fraccarolli, State Policy Manager
845 372 5615 ext. 139, cfraccarolli@scenichudson.org

HUDSON VALLEY — On this Earth Day, Scenic Hudson praises Governor Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature for passing a strong budget that continues to invest in critical environmental and climate resiliency programs. Despite proposed cuts to critical environmental programs, the FY 2024-25 budget maintains historic funding for the Environmental Protection Fund, State Parks capital improvements, and clean water infrastructure projects across the state.

Scenic Hudson applauds these final state budget provisions:

$400 million for the Environmental Protection Fund with no $25 million “offload”, which would have diverted EPF project monies to underwrite state agency staffing costs
$300 million for State Parks capital improvements
$500 million for clean water infrastructure
Climate and flood resiliency funding
- $250 million from the 2022 Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act to promote voluntary home buyouts in communities most vulnerable to flooding
- $40 million to launch the Resilient and Ready program, which will support low- and moderate-income homeowners with resiliency improvements and assist with repairs in the event of a catastrophic event
$150 million for NY SWIMS, including funding for the development of a swimming facility at Sojourner Truth State Park
$289,000 to the City of Kingston and $33,000 to the Town of Ulster to address decreased tax revenue from the creation of Sojourner Truth State Park

President Ned Sullivan said, “We are grateful to Governor Hochul and the Legislature for working together to create a budget that focuses on the environmental health and well-being of all New Yorkers. These resources will help address some of the region’s most pressing issues, from cleaning up the Hudson River to confronting climate change with an array of forward-thinking initiatives. Scenic Hudson is also grateful for the work of Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha who secured one-time payments to the City of Kingston and the Town of Ulster to restore lost property tax revenue related to the establishment of Sojourner Truth State Park. We look forward to working with our legislative champions to make these payments permanent, and to include payments to the Town of Lloyd for Franny Reese State Park in future budgets.”

State Policy Manager Carli Fraccarolli said, “We are thrilled that the NYS budget continues to put environmental concerns front and center. Across the state, there are a staggering number of projects that have not been completed due to lack of funds. Lead pipes still carry water to our homes and some state parks remain closed due to storm damage that occurred more than a decade ago. These significant environmental investments are a welcome and direct response to meeting these pressing concerns and will provide tremendous benefits to all New Yorkers.”