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News 12 Staff

LIPP126B_2025-01-26-12-26-09

Welcome back. Governor Kathy Hochle has unveiled her proposed state budget for 2026, and it would include an increase in school aid. It would jump by 4.7% overall. The crucial foundation aid would go up by a minimum of 2%, the single biggest source of school funding. Long Island school officials say more still needs to be done to keep up with inflation. We're asking that that number be higher to help offset some of the inflationary costs that school districts have been dealing with for the last 2 years. Well, there will certainly be negotiations to come with the legislature. The final version of the budget is due in April, and the governor also wants that budget to include $13 million for districts to implement a ban on cell phone use in class for students in grades K through 12. The governor believes. Limiting access to cell phones during school would help students focus in class and improve mental health. There will be some exceptions like medical needs and disabilities. Some of our viewers point to safety concerns. There's a reason they're against that plan. Meanwhile, the state police superintendent says the ban could help make schools safer. They may unknowingly text or post inaccurate information to social media and cause confusion, quite possibly to parents or to emergency responders. The governor says each district would be required to have a way for parents to reach their kids when necessary, and that is literally just the tip of the iceberg of the budget proposal. Joining us now with reaction, State Senator Patricia Cananeria Fitzpatrick, good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Of course, thanks to for having me. OK, so there's money for a whole bunch of different, uh, issues and things that are affecting New Yorkers. What's your overall reaction to the budget as it was laid out by the governor? Well, the the concern of course is that the budget that's proposed by the governors typically the floor. The legislature continues to increase the budget, and we're already seeing a significant increase. What's interesting is the revenues also increased, so what you're not seeing is that the increase in spending is actually almost 8% in this budget, and New Yorkers are feeling the crunch. We can't continue to keep spending. And uh expect everybody to keep up with it. Did everybody get an 8% raise this year from their job? And if not, we need to be cognizant of that and make sure we keep our spending under control. That's not there right now in the governor's budget. Were you surprised at the foundation aid proposal considering last year and the pushback that the governor received looking to change the formula? So I am a little surprised, um, but um I'm hoping that it means that the governor listened to the outrage last year when the proposed cuts to foundation aid were received by the communities and the school districts and there was such a harsh reaction. Um, I think that there are a number of good things that she's doing. School meals, I think, is a wonderful thing. I would like to see more spent on mental health in the schools. There does seem to be a focus on schools and safety here on a broader scale, but even in the classroom with this potential cell phone ban, a lot of questions about how that could be implemented, try keeping your own, your own kids off the phone or the iPad, right? But uh. What do you think about that $15 million to try to ban cell phones in classrooms? I don't know yet how she's planning on spending that money. I will say that cell phones are very distracting. They're distracting to us as adults. They're certainly distracting for kids in school, and I do support the idea of banning those cell phones. Um, I, you know, my children in school are not permitted to have their cell phone on their person during the day. And I think that's a good plan. I don't know why she needs to spend so much money to get this implemented. A lot of people all across the state, but especially in New York City and the surrounding suburbs, worried about safety, worried about the trains and the subways, a lot of funding here to go to that $77 million for just a 6 month deployment to have the NYPD patrol the subways overnight. At the same token, safety has to be paramount, but it's a lot of money. Uh, what's. What's the rub here? How does this work out? I think the money is misspent personally. I think safety is absolutely paramount, but putting the police in the subway for a 6 month stint is not fixing the problem. We need to look at our bail reform laws. We need to look at cashless bail. The ideas that I'm getting from law enforcement is that when people commit crimes. You need to penalize them. You need to lock them up. And if we don't get those people out of the subway, the crime will continue. Safety is a concern, but I think the governor is going about it the wrong way. What are some of the projects or initiatives you're hearing in Albany that the state legislature, even the majority of Democrats, are looking to put into this budget that's not already there? Well, I would say that there's a lot of um initiatives that I'm hearing about um you know energy about um clean water. um I'm hoping that those things will will get passed. I hope that we will see some reforms in the discovery area and cashless bail because our safety is really critical. I'm also hoping that in the budget we don't see uh the outpouring of money. For migrants that we can't continue to sustain supporting the migrant crisis, we really need to think about the concerns that we have here in in New York. Is there a sense of where the governor will stand on that? Obviously this is new terrain, new administration in the White House, but at the same token she needs to look ahead potentially at her own run for re-election coming up and not too far from now. Correct, I think the governor does a lot of things that are politically motivated look at congestion. Pricing she peeled it back and then put it forward right after election day and I think that was politically motivated. I think my colleagues in Albany need to stop worrying about that we have Trump in the White House because he's going to do things that they're not going to agree with, but I think we need to let the president act and respond accordingly if we think it's not good for New York. Do you think there's the potential for a partnership between the Trump White House and the Hole administration? There's always a potential whether the governor will reach out that olive branch. I, I don't believe she will. Lastly, what's the message for your constituents as they look at millions and millions and billions of dollars in the state budget? Uh, what's your goal for them? My goal would be that we're going to look at the budget we're going to propose solutions that would really help the middle class, um, not, not increasing spending where we don't have a direct benefit to the communities. We really need to tighten our belts because everybody is suffering so much with the inflation and increased costs. That's where I why our sales tax and the budget went up because everything costs more. And we need to be cognizant of that and try to reduce spending. We are all feeling the pinch, no doubt about it, Senator, good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Wonderful to be here. Thank you. And still to come on Power and politics, Nassau County's ban on transgender athletes in women's sports will continue to stand, at least for now. We'll break down the latest ruling from a state Supreme Court judge and the response from trans rights advocates. That's still ahead.

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LIPP126C_2025-01-26-12-26-24

Welcome back. A state Supreme Court judge has upheld Nassau's ban on transgender athletes in women's sports at county facilities. In the ruling, the judge says the law does not exclude trans women and girls from public facilities based on their gender identity. A lawsuit against that law argued it violates the state's human rights laws, but the judge disagreed. Advocates for trans people say the law tries to erase transgender people from public life, but Nassau's County Executive Bruce Blakeman says it's about safety and fairness. The Federal courts have said that under Title IX, transgender biological males do not have rights to play on female teams. So now you have a federal court and a state court who are saying the same thing, and I'm just proud that we were the first in America to do it. His celebration of this decision as a national tone setter underscores the dangerous precedent it sets for normalizing discrimination under the guise of equity. The New York Civil Liberties Union sued to stop the ban, and attorney said in part, quote, We are disappointed but undaunted by the decision, and we are taking all the necessary steps to appeal. The lawmaker behind a bill that would exempt want off schools from the state's Native American mascot ban is now speaking out, as we've reported, the district agreed to stop using indigenous images but is hoping to hold on to the warrior's name. State Senator Steve Rhodes proposed the bill, saying the name doesn't satisfy any conditions for removal. There's no effort on the part of the state education department to demonstrate why a school mascot contributes to an atmosphere of intimidation, bullying, or harassment. Districts that do not comply with the state's ban by the end of the school year could lose state funding. Former Shirley Congressman Lee Zeldin is one step closer to being confirmed to work in President Trump's cabinet. He was appointed to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works voted 11 to 8 to advance Zeldin's nomination. His confirmation will now move to the full Senate for a vote likely this week. The president and CEO of the Suffolk OTB and Jake's 58 casino is now taking on a new role. Phil Boyle has been named the next chairperson of the New York Gaming Association. Gaming Association has members located at racing and gaming venues throughout the state. Boyle has served in his role with. OTB since 2022. Before then, of course, he was a state senator and state assemblyman representing parts of Long Island's South Shore. That is all the time we have this week. We'll see you again right here next week for another edition of Newspell's Power and Politics. I'm Rich Vrae. Have a great rest of your day.

https://vod.prod.alticeustech.com/transcode/9d33ea16-b6db-4068-b976-9599e864e310/9d33ea16-b6db-4068-b976-9599e864e310.transcribe

Josh Lafazan, Mike Lipetri and state Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick join the show this week. 

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Josh Lafazan, Mike Lipetri and state Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick join the show this week.

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