Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The New York State budget deadline is ten days away and as Jack O'Donnell of O'Donnell and Associates told WBEN, "there's still an awful lot to get done and not a lot of urgency to get it done on time."
A big policy fight over education funding stands out as the budget goes into the final stretch.
In previous years, big policy controversies over mobile sports betting, ride sharing, a natural gas ban would drive budget talks. This year, O'Donnell admits its a lot quieter and more muted.
School aid is the most contentious issue right now with Governor Kathy Hochul insisting on changing the school funding formula.
One proposal is to get rid of the so-called "hold harmless" provision of the foundation aid formula. This provision makes it so a district can't receive less aid than it did the year before.
The governor is proposing replacing the "hold harmless" provision with a "transition adjustment" that "protects districts from only 50 percent to 91 percent loss of the aid loss."
O'Donnell said some of the numbers in the formula were based on populations from 2008 and much has changed since then.
But state lawmakers and the school district officials say it's too much of a hit and their costs continue to go up.
"The legislature wants to spend a year or more studying it. But the governor wants to act now," he said.
It's creating a lot of confusion around school districts. The governor said revenue is at record levels. Yet the formula is changing, leaving districts with less money.
O'Donnell explained it this way.
"Funding has been going up every year. The amount that the state is spending on schools continues to increase. But Hochul's proposal cuts funding in roughly half of the districts, which means funding in other districts has gone up even more; meaning the net number is higher even if some of the schools get less."