Finally capping off a state budget process that went over a month past its April 1 deadline, Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday signed the budget bill containing most of the spending plan’s major policy items — known as the “Big Ugly” — into law.
Hochul also signed into law Wednesday other parts of the $229 spending plan, separated into a series of bills passed by the Assembly and state Senate Tuesday night. That includes changes to New York’s bail laws sought by Governor Kathy Hochul; a raise in the state’s minimum wage by $2 over the next three years and will index future increases to inflation; new measures for cracking down on shops selling weed without a license; a bevy of environmental reforms, including a ban on gas stoves in new construction; and the chance to open 14 new charter schools in the five boroughs.
