As Governor Cuomo prepares to submit his SFY2017-18 Budget proposal to the Legislature, advocates, including Reinvent Albany, called for investment in drinking and wastewater infrastructure. In their proposal, the groups urge the governor to:
- build on prior financial commitments with at least an $800 million annual investment; and
- make the Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2015 (WIIA) — which is due to sunset after SFY2017-2018 — a permanent budget line item.
Note that the State of New York spends more than $1.6B a year in taxpayer funds on direct subsidies to businesses, in addition to tax breaks worth another $2.4B per year.