Gov. Kathy Hochul came to Syracuse Monday to showcase what’s inside her executive budget and how Central New York will be impacted.
The governor said out of a historic $2.7 billion in foundation school aid, about $1.7 million will be invested locally.
She said she wants students to have the mental health care they need, especially after struggling to bounce back since the pandemic years, and wants to invest $1 billion in mental health services.
The governor also emphasized the need to prepare for the Micron plant in Clay, noting her budget includes $5 million to build clean rooms at Onondaga Community College for students interested in semiconductors manufacturing careers.
“Also, $3 million for a workforce career lab to open up a warehouse space to help with engineering, technical skills and workforce education,” Hochul said.
She said Central New York’s population boom from the project will happen within 10 years. Her plan is to cut through local zoning laws to build housing, including Section 8 across the state.
"All I know is we have to get started and 800,000 units will take us to a whole different place over the next decade. But, I know Syracuse is open to this. They see the great possibilities and how far we’ve come since the time when they were almost giving away houses – especially in our city – trying to pay people to take away housing because it was abandoned and blighted,” Hochul said.
Hochul is also planning on spending $14 million to improve the state fairgrounds, citing 14% of buildings are more than 100 years old.
