Parks, conservation investment in Executive Budget

ELIZABETHTOWN | Environmental focus in Gov. Kathy Hochul's 2023-24 budget gained plaudits from conservation groups for its eye on climate change mitigation investment, clean air and clean water, and energy sustainability measures. At the Adirondack Council, Executive Director William C. Janeway said Hochul has allocated "significant funding and policy proposals for municipal clean water and wastewater projects, environmental jobs training, an Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) of $400 million, and 'Cap and Invest' program expected to generate $1 billion for programs to fight climate change." Programs outlined inside the 2023-24 $227 billion spending package would be used to improve the availability of clean, electric energy and broadband internet in rural areas, a major concern in the Adirondack region of the state, the Adirondack Council added. "The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) would be able to hire 131 new staff to administer the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act approved by the voters last fall. And DEC would also be authorized to hire 52 new staff for the Division of Air to work on climate programs as the state implements its first comprehensive Climate Action Plan," the council noted. "We still want to see the DEC double and diversify the Forest Ranger and Environmental Conservation Officer forces," he said. "Both have hired more women in recent years, but both can do more to reflect the regional, racial and social diversity of the state's population." Janeway said he was disappointed to see no additional staff proposed for the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), which, he added, administers a park the size of Vermont with only 54 staff. But the $29 million for a new APA headquarters building was carried forward into the 2023-24 budget. "We were pleased to see the Governor's plan includes $2.1 million for the Timbuctoo Summer Climate Careers Institute," Janeway said. "That program will link the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) to students in the City University of New York's Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. City residents who might not ever see the Adirondacks otherwise will have the opportunity to live and study here and explore career options such as climate science, forest ranger or wilderness management and protection." The Adirondack Diversity Initiative was allocated $300,000 in Hochul's budget and set as its own line item. "This funding is important to the communities, economy and the environment," Janeway said. "In the this past was a dedicated line in the EPF." Conservation and preservation groups had previously called for key investments in Adirondack Park trail management and development. And Hochul's proposed budget provides $90 million for DEC to use to "address a variety of capital needs to facilitate access to state lands, ensure the safety and durability of our state's dams, rehabilitate campgrounds, and upgrade a variety of widely used recreational facilities. This funding will also provide critical repairs to other public property, including wetlands, trails, waterfronts, and fish hatcheries." Along with DEC, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation would get $200 million of New York Works capital "to invest in enhancing and improving state parks. This substantial level of funding will aid the ongoing transformation of New York's flagship parks and support critical infrastructure projects throughout the Park system," according to the budget book. State Sen. Dan Stec (R-Queensbury), who has championed state spending for conservation and parks, said he was pleased to see Hochul's budget address confusion that last year's gun control laws had on gun owners and visitors to the Adirondack Park. "I'm glad to see that the Governor realized this major problem and included language in her budget that matched my proposal to exempt the Adirondack Park from the new gun control laws." Hocul's Executive Budget updates and summarizes the State of New York's Five-Year Plan and provides official Financial Plan projections for FY 2023 through FY 2027. Five-year capital allocation charts show that Parks and Environment programs encompass 11 percent of total state spending, the same amount invested in higher education and one percentage point below New York's investment in economic development. Financial planning in the Executive Budget projects out-year budget gaps of $5.7 billion in FY 2025, $9.0 billion in FY 2026, and $7.5 billion in FY 2027. The gap estimates for each year are due to downward revisions in projected tax receipts, the Governor's budget book says. "If the FY 2025 Budget is balanced with recurring savings, the budget gap for FY 2026 would be $3.3 billion. The projected budget gaps do not reflect the use of any reserves to balance operations." Of the total $227 billion, State Operating Funds spending totals $125.2 billion. That is an increase of $2.5 billion, or 2 percent, from the current fiscal year. The Executive Budget and Financial Plan are online. They can be downloaded and searched: https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy24/ex/index.html.

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Parks, conservation investment in Executive Budget

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