1. Enacted Federal Budget
On July 4, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” into law. This law will cost the State of New York about $15.4 billion annually and will have devastating impacts, including:
- Kicking 1.5 million New Yorkers off of their health insurance.
- Eliminating or reducing SNAP benefits for more than 1 million New Yorkers.
- Causing the loss of more than 215,000 jobs statewide.
- Adding more than $4 trillion to the national debt.
- Slashing funding for health care facilities by $8 billion.
These cuts will affect all programs operated by the state and local governments. Public employers are likely to freeze hiring and possibly layoff employees. Due to their reliance on Medicaid, safety-net hospitals and nursing homes will likely have to cut services and staff, and, for some, close. These cuts will also make it difficult to negotiate fair collective bargaining agreements and reforms to Tiers 5 and 6.
While this wasn’t the result we wanted, CSEA members came together and fought hard to oppose these cuts. Thank you to all of the members who wrote letters, postcards, and called their congressional representatives. More than 500 CSEA members signed up to be federal advocates, which means that we are prepared for the fights to come.
With this legislation now passed, Congress will begin work on the next federal budget, which starts October 1. The President has proposed deep cuts to domestic programs, including many staffed by CSEA members in New York State. We will provide more details as the budget process unfolds in the coming months, but we urge you to stay alert and be ready to take action to prevent further erosion of funding for the vital state and local services we provide. To get involved, sign up to be a CSEA federal advocate and join the PEOPLE Program, which ensures that CSEA has the resources to fight back.
2. Paying off the UI Trust Fund
Last week, Governor Kathy Hochul rallied with labor leaders across the state to announce that New York State has paid off the nearly $7 billion federal Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund debt. This was including in the FY2026 New York State Budget, a proposal CSEA supported. Paying off this debt will bring the fund to solvency and allows the state to increase the UI benefit from $504 to $869 per week beginning in October. This also reduces the cost of UI on employers, which will free up funds for future contract negotiations.
3. Free Community College
The New York State Budget included funding to provide free SUNY and CUNY Community College to New Yorkers aged 25-55 with no degree who enroll in high-demand degree programs. This goes into effect in the fall semester, with 175 qualifying degree programs available at community colleges across the state. You can find available programs here.
4. CSEA Legislative Toolkit
We’re encouraging members to get the word out about our legislative successes. Click the icons below for informational documents that you can print, share, and post on social media to spread the news. You can also check out our summary of the 2025-2026 New York State Budget.
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