VIDEO-WATCH LIVE: Gov. Cuomo outlines the 2021 NYS Budget

ALBANY, N.Y. (via NEWS10) — Governor Andrew Cuomo outlined his plan for the Fiscal Year 2021 New York State Budget on Tuesday.

Cuomo outlined an $826 million increase in school aid with the primary goal of creating equity in school funding throughout the state. The $826 million marks a three percent increase in school aid by the state, adding up to a total education budget of $28.5 billion.

Cuomo stressed that the focus of the education budget in fiscal year 2021 will not just be how much money is spent on education, but how that money is spent and which schools and districts receive the most state education aid.

According to the governor, a survey of 300 major school districts in the state found that wealthier schools spent $36,000 per student, compared to $16,000 per student at poorer schools. Cuomo said the state will begin making changes to the way the state distributes education funding in an attempt to close that gap.

The budget proposes a focus on Foundation Aid, rather than expense-based aid, with 85 percent of the budgeted Foundation Aid increase going to the highest-need schools. a previous focus on expense-based aid has resulted in wealthier schools getting more state funding simply because they were spending more money per student, Cuomo said. This only added to a gap in funding between wealthy and poorer schools.

Currently, state funding makes up just 40 percent of education funding in the states, but Cuomo proposed strategically distributing state funding aid to chip away at any disparities at the local or federal level.

Cuomo also announced a 3.4 percent, $257 million increase in higher education operating aid, making a total budget of $7.8 billion.

This increase will pay for a number of changes, including $1.5 billion in capital for SUNY/CUNY campuses and a proposal to raise the income eligibility cap for the Excelsior Scholarship to $150,000, a move which Cuomo said will allow an additional 230,000 students to go to college tuition-free.

His infrastructure plan adds $175 billion to a previously announced $100 billion, adding to a total investment of $275 billion, which Cuomo called the largest infrastructure program in the state’s history and the largest in the nation.

The plan includes funding for many new and continuing infrastructure projects and improvements around the state, including a number in upstate New York.

The budget includes funding for:

• $11.9 billion for a two-year DOT Capital Plan, including $5.8 billion for Upstate roads and bridges
• A five-year $52 billion capital plan for the MTA
• $100 million for round 2 of Upstate Airport and Economic Development Initiative
• $300 million to re imagine the Erie Canal
• A $20 billion five-year investment in affordable housing, supportive housing and related services
• $355 million to complete the transition to all electronic tolling on the New York State Thruway by the end of 2020
• $900 million to fund capital rehabilitation and improvement of state parks and historic sites.
• An additional $500 million in funding to clean water projects, bringing the states total investment over five years to $3.5 billion

Cuomo says the infrastructure projects included in the budget will support the creation of 450,000 jobs.

Cuomo also announced a $33 billion five-year plan to fight climate change that he called the biggest commitment in the nation.

Five of the hottest years in history have occurred since 2015, Cuomo said, and the past decade was the hottest ever recorded.

“The clock is ticking,” said Cuomo, D-New York. “It is ticking faster and faster.”

The plan includes: