New York lawmakers finally pass $268.5B budget. Here's what made the cut

Key Points:

• New York lawmakers passed a $268.5 billion state budget that softens climate change goals, limits local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and allocates funds to financially struggling cities.
• The budget delays the state's greenhouse-gas emissions target from a 40% reduction by 2030 to a 60% reduction by 2040, drawing criticism from environmental groups but support from business and Republican leaders.
• Governor Kathy Hochul secured changes to car insurance laws aimed at lowering premiums, despite opposition from trial lawyers, and faced criticism for the delayed budget passage attributed to her inclusion of policy measures in the fiscal plan.
• The budget includes significant funding boosts for schools, counties, and cities, with specific bailouts for Buffalo, Albany, Yonkers, Rochester, and Syracuse, as well as a new tax on high-value non-primary residences in New York City.
• Public-sector unions gained $551 million in retirement benefit improvements, while the budget did not address the loss of public health insurance for 450,000 New Yorkers due to federal cuts, instead increasing Medicaid funding for healthcare providers.