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Minority members criticize budget size, raise renewable energy and electric school bus concerns
Summary
Assembly minority speakers warned the one-house majority budgets increase state spending sharply, criticized CLCPA implementation impacts on farms and landscapes, and called the proposed electric school bus mandate and funding insufficient compared with their cost estimate.
During the joint budget kickoff, Assembly minority members used their time to criticize the overall size of the proposed one‑house budgets and to raise concerns about energy policy and education transportation mandates.
Assembly minority speaker Chris Hague said the minority supports the New York Food Insecurity, Farm Resiliency and Rural Poverty Act (A.3623 of 2025) but warned about broader policy choices. "The farm labor wage board's decision to lower overtime thresholds to 40 hours threatens the survival of Upstate New York farms," Hague said. He also criticized what he described as insufficient clarity around the costs and benefits of implementing the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), saying residents face "lost farmland, ruined views, and potential environmental hazards from wind and solar projects," as presented by minority speakers.
Hague also called the electric school bus mandate infeasible given cost estimates presented by his conference. The minority stated the mandate could cost as much as $15,000,000,000 and said the majority's $200,000,000 proposal to support the transition was inadequate.
The minority framed these comments within a broader critique of overall state spending levels, citing year‑over‑year increases in the proposed budgets and urging greater fiscal restraint. Majority chairs responded by outlining prioritized investments and said they would continue to negotiate with the governor.
No formal votes were taken during the session; the comments were positioned as political and policy input in a larger three‑way budget negotiation.
