By Mark Scott
Albany, NY – The State Senate and Assembly passed a $121.7 billion state budget Wednesday.
The budget, which was due April 1, increases spending by nearly five percent. Aid to the state's public schools will increase by $1.75 billion. Buffalo schools will receive a 6.5 percent increase. Total state aid to all schools in Erie County will top $1 billion.
The Upstate Revitalization Program recommended by former Governor Eliot Spitzer was cut from $1 billion to $700 million.
The new budget authorizes $6 billion in capital funding for public higher education in New York. UB President John Simpson says the university will receive $200 million. The operating portion of the SUNY budget will see a nearly three percent cut in funding. Simpson says he doesn't yet know how that will affect UB.
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