Voice of Business Blog

This week, the New York State Senate and Assembly each released their One-House Budget resolutions, showcasing their proposed FY2027 New York State budgets and opening negotiations with the Executive. Greater Rochester Chamber is actively monitoring and interpreting these budgets for our members to ensure that our members have the information they need for informed, strategic, and growth-focused decision making, and are represented in key negotiations surrounding topics that will impact our community and regional business climate.

Since the beginning of our 2026 Legislative Session and Governor Hochul’s FY2027 executive budget proposal in January, Greater Rochester Chamber has been working closely with our public and private partners to ensure that our Upstate voice is well represented in these conversations. Our key priorities this year were outlined in our 2026 Advocacy Agenda. In the months since, we have continued to evaluate proposals and legislation to identify opportunities to make Greater Rochester a better place to live, work, and conduct business.

This brief is not intended to be comprehensive but rather an overview for business leaders of the issues most impactful for our region. To make sure you get the most up to date updates, make sure you’re signed up for Greater Rochester Chamber’s weekly Policy Updates newsletter – opt-in here.

Key Developments for Regional Business Leaders:

• Both the Senate and the Assembly included $225 for the Rochester-Monroe Transformation Initiative and $75 million for the development of High Falls State Park, with the Senate modifying the proposal to include language to cover costs of public safety and security equipment.
• The Assembly budget proposal omits language reforming the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which was included in the Governor’s Executive Budget proposal and has received strong support from Greater Rochester Chamber. We will continue to advocate for these common-sense reforms to be included in a final enacted budget.
• Both chambers accepted the Executive proposal to include $20 million in state funding to administer pilot programs in, among others, Monroe County, that will develop 0-3 Child Care in NYS. Other child care-related proposals, including zoning reform and increased flexibility for providers, were modified or omitted in the Senate and Assembly budgets.
• The Assembly budget proposal included measures to support small businesses through an increased tax deduction from 15 percent to 25 percent of net income, gain, loss and deduction and the ability to create hardship savings accounts for businesses with fewer than 25 employees.
• Both budgets included funding for several grant programs Greater Rochester Chamber has been tracking, including the Dairy Modernization Grant, New York PLATES Grant, and more.
• The Assembly budget proposal includes funding $2.6 billion allocated for Protect Our Wallets Energy Rebate (POWER) Checks to provide up to $500 per household to help offset the rising costs of utility bills.

Greater Rochester Chamber will continue to provide our members with updated information as negotiations continue and final plans emerge. An in-depth comparison of Greater Rochester Chamber’s advocacy priorities with the executive and one-house budget proposals will be shared in a forthcoming Policy Updates newsletter. For any questions, please contact Director of Communications Xander Rohring.