Among the highlights are increases to the child tax credit and new inflation refund checks.

The inflation rebate checks provide $400 for married income tax filers for incomes up to $150,000 and $300 for incomes between $150,000 and $300,000. The rate is $200 for single filers up to $75,000 and $150 for incomes $75,000 to $150,000, according to the governor’s office.

The budget also reduces middle-class tax rates in 2026.

It also includes an expansion of the child tax credit, which will provide $1,000 for families with children under age of 4 and increasing the credit for children four to 16 from $330 in the first year to $500 in the following two years.

The budget increases school aid by 4.9% for a total of $37.6 billion. It also provides $340 million for school meals, which is an increase of $160 million, to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of their families’ income.

It also provides $13.5 million to implement the bell-to-bell cell phone ban in schools.

The budget also invests nearly $1 billion to access more access to high-quality care in Medicaid and increases reimbursement rates for hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living programs, assisted living programs and federally qualified health centers.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Hastie released a statement on the budget saying: “we are fighting to support our small businesses, put money back into the pockets of hardworking families, and invest in programs that will allow our children to reach their full potential.”

Republican Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay says this spending plan, the latest in 15 years and $13 billion more than last year, continued Albany’s pattern of “closed- door dysfunction and lack of transparency.”