Over the past few days, the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has made some budget cuts. These budget cuts allow for freezing on hiring, pay raises, and new contracts.

An aid for the Empire State must be issued or a cut of $4 billion will be permanent. A financial plan was released Thursday with an estimated $14.5 billion in revenue loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that left millions of New Yorkers unemployed. Cuomo and lawmakers expect to finalize plans in early April. Cuomo is asking for Washington’s help with the financial situation in New York.

A budget of $88.1 billion was passed at 12:30 a.m. on July 1 by the New York City council. Only 32 council members voted for it and only 17 voted against it. This budget cut targets the NYPD. It shrinks the NYPD’s funding by a lot. Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week that the city would layoff 22,000 municipal workers whose combined salaries equate to $1 billion.

$400 million of the NYPD’s cuts will come from moving the safety officers from schools to the department of education, de Blasio said. Before all this, Cuomo himself warned that New York needed $30 billion in coronavirus stimulus or the state would have to make cuts to the budget. They wanted to rebuild JFK airport, LaGuardia airport, East Side Access, and Penn Station.

New York State requires $30 billion in funding for this year and the next, in order to avoid massive disruption. New York City requires $9 billion, and anyone outside requires $4.5 billion: the MTA – $12 billion and the Port authority – $3 billion. The rebuilding of LaGuardia and JFK are employing thousands of private-sector construction workers.

The MTA $51 billion plan will be on hold, and the East Side Access and Penn Station renewal will be lost. A SALT tax was placed and now legislation must repeal it or it will cost the state of New York about $15 billion each year. Now, with schools reopened, the Cuomo administration withheld $324 million in payments in June and July.

Cuts in schools are now awaiting approval from Washington for a federal bailout. The deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents said that payments to schools over the summer were about $1 billion. Also, for the full school year, it will come to a total of $27 billion.

Many schools don’t know if the cuts are temporary or permanent. If these cuts are permanent, it will impact the schools in urban and rural areas with poor school districts. School superintendents have been consumed more with reopening plans and less with financial matters.

“The state has withheld $300 million in education funding a fraction of $26.4 billion in total school funding”.

“The state won’t be withholding school aid due at September’s end, despite concerns for some school leaders. ”Both were said by budget director Robert Mujica.

Now, the New York State United Teachers want Cuomo and lawmakers to raise taxes on the wealthy New Yorkers. If this doesn’t get resolved soon, they will have to raise taxes on the wealthy just to help schools. Cuomo does not want to raise taxes on the wealthy. Cuomo is holding on to hope for some federal aid.

This has become a downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo has agreed to a state budget, and Alexandra Ocasio- Cortez, the representative for the Bronx and Queens, is set on taxing the rich. This is a major issue for New York. Even the Trump Administration doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it. This has put a toll on the police, schools, and everyday workers who are unemployed right now. They have to find some way to overcome this or the city of New York is going to perish. If the Trump Administration won’t do anything about it, then New York is just going to have to tax the rich.