On the evening of May 8, lawmakers from the New York State Assembly and Senate finally passed the state's fiscal year 2026 budget worth $254 billion, according to The New York Times.
Gov. Kathy Hochul noted that the budget's child tax credit expansions, increased school funding as well as other programs would make New York a more affordable place to live.
According to FingerLakes1.com, the budget contains a up to $1,000 per child tax credit. Beginning in 2025, eligible families will receive $1,000 per child under age four and $500 per child ages four to 16. This credit is the biggest expansion of New York’s child tax credit in history. It benefits roughly 2.75 million children across the state. The average family will now get $943 per year, increasing from $472 under the prior program. The budget removes restrictions that previously excluded the lowest-income families while expanding eligibility to many middle-class families who earn up to $170,000.
Aside from the child credit expansion, the budget includes close to $1 billion in income tax cuts for more than 8.3 million New Yorkers. These reductions will start appearing in paychecks by early 2026 . They benefit individuals earning up to $150,000 and married filers earning up to $323,000.
The New York Times reports that Hochul's “inflation rebate” is also in the budget. Under this measure, $2 billion will be disbursed to New Yorkers in checks of up to $400 per family and $200 per individual.
The budget also has a number of other financial benefits for individuals throughout New York including the increased per-day pay rate for jurors in state court to $72 dollars, which is close to double the current amount. Some employees at LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports were also given a broad benefits-and-wages package that could help mitigate air travel worker shortages, The New York Times reports.
Additionally, New York’s budget includes new measures that assist shoppers such as a mandate that businesses offer transparent refund-and-return policies, clear instructions for terminating subscriptions and advance notices of subscription renewals and their cost.
New York is also imposing stricter regulations on “buy now, pay later” companies like Affirm and Klarna, which will need a license from the Department of Financial Services. This agency requires firms to abide by state laws governing advertising, interest rates and debt collection.