State lawmakers in Albany announced last week that they’d reached a $132.6 billion budget deal with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, passing each of the 11 budget bills on Friday — a few days early, before the annual budget deadline of April 1.

The plan decreases overall state spending compared to last year, but increases funding for some agencies and projects that some local officials have hailed as a boost for New York City. Others, including a handful of Bronx politicians, say the budget doesn’t go far enough to address the needs of many New Yorkers

Council Speaker Christine Quinn praised the plan because it will increase money for city schools, fund improvement projects planned by the MTA, launch a program to keep the city’s juvenile offenders in local custody and increase aid to CUNY community colleges, according to a statement.

“City taxpayers are winners today in Albany,” Mayor Bloomberg echoed in a press release.

Bronx State Sen. Jose Serrano, who serves on the Senate Committee for Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation, said he was “thrilled” with the budget for funding the rehabilitation of state parks, and for an increase in funds to art organizations and museums compared to last year. “These proven economic engines will provide a worthwhile return on our state’s investment,” Serrano said.

Not everyone, however, was pleased with every aspect of the deal.

Bronx State Sen. Gustavo Rivera lauded certain provisions of the budget — like one bill that would restore funding to local organizations like the West Bronx Housing Resource Center and Fordham Bedford Housing — he voted “no” on three of the 11 bills, saying the overall plan “missed several opportunities to improve the lives of working families.”

Though the budget restores $770 million to the MTA for the capital plan projects, Rivera says it’s not at a rate high enough to avoid yet another subway fare hike this year. And while Cuomo plans to invest millions in infrastructure projects to repair the state’s bridges and roadways, it did not increase funding to the State’s mass transit system.

Rivera also criticized Senate Republicans for failing to include the establishment of a state health care exchange, which Cuomo and the Assembly Democrats had been pushing for, and which is required by the federal health care overhaul. The exchange would allow uninsured New Yorkers to buy insurance at discounted rates.

“We have missed an opportunity to provide health care coverage to a million New Yorkers and bring the cost of health insurance down by 66 percent for those who have private health insurance,” Rivera said.

State Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. slammed the budget process for failing to include the New York Dream Act, which would make undocumented students eligible for state tuition assistance and other college scholarships.

“I do not understand why black and Hispanic legislators would vote in favor of and approve of something like that,” Diaz said in a statement.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.