The recently approved state budget allocates $2.1 billion to provide cash assistance to immigrant workers who have been excluded from other forms of government relief—including hundreds of thousands of New York City residents. The creation of such a fund was the main recommendation of our 2020 report, “Under Threat and Left Out,” which showed that immigrant New Yorkers were suffering the deepest economic losses from the COVID-19 crisis but had benefited the least from government relief efforts. We also called for this in a subsequent op-ed in the Daily News.

The state budget also includes $40 million in general operating support grants and new capital funding for arts and cultural organizations. CUF elevated the need for arts relief in last year’s "Art in the Time of Coronavirus" report and advocated for recovery grants and capital funding in testimony before the State Senate. Lastly, the budget includes a boost in per-student aid to community colleges and a funding plan to close the TAP gap. CUF has consistently called attention to these needs, including in our report on boosting college success in New York City, "Degrees of Difficulty," and a number of op-eds and briefs.