ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's Assembly has given final legislative approval to New York's budget for the fiscal year that began Monday, voting for the last four bills in the package Friday evening.
Speaker Carl Heastie says provisions that will gradually raise the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, establish 12 weeks of paid family leave for New York workers and cut income tax rates for middle-class filers helped make it the best budget he's seen in 16 years in the Legislature.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign all the bills, the product of lengthy negotiations between legislative leaders and him.
He advocated the higher wages and family leave, which were advanced by Democratic legislators.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 61-1 earlier yesterday to pass the bill with the wage and leave provisions.
