Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature have tripled state budget funding for a politically connected nonprofit group on her home turf, The Post has learned.
Say Yes Buffalo, which boasts politically powerful board members including State Sen. Tim Kennedy (D-Erie) and Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D-Buffalo) got a sizable increase in this year’s state budget from $2.5 million to $7.5 million.
The group awards scholarship funds to help Buffalo students pay for college.
Kennedy is favored to win a special election to Congress Tuesday, filling the seat vacated by longtime Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY).
The dramatic jump in funding comes as Hochul and lawmakers eliminated state operating aid to private universities whose endowments exceed $750 million. The 16 private colleges that will no longer receive the state Bundy aid include Columbia, NYU, Cornell, St. John’s and Fordham.
The new stipulation is expected to save the state around $18 million.
Most colleges use a large portion of their endowment to provide financial aid and scholarships to students, the Commission of Independent Colleges and Universities professes.
“This public investment, combined with the private sector resources, secures the work of Say Yes Buffalo long-term, and we are grateful to the state for inclusion in this year’s budget,” David Rust, CEO of Say Yes Buffalo told The Post in a statement.
Rust touted Say Yes Buffalo’s successes in helping increase high school graduation rates as well as college enrollment and graduation rates.
The non-profit has raised over $50 million for its own endowment, including a separate $10 million allocation from the state last year.
“I want every child, no matter what zip code they’re born into, to have a shot at a good college degree, if that’s what they want to do,” Hochul said, mentioning the $10 million for Say Yes at a memorial service for last year’s Tops supermarket mass shooting in Buffalo.
Rust noted that he does not expect the organization to receive funds from the state next year.
