Education

Establishes the sector partnership enhancement and reinforcement program to assist in the identification of target industry clusters and employers for creation of new local sector partnerships and to provide grants to emerging and existing local sector partnerships and to community colleges seeking to establish local sector partnerships for recruitment activities; makes an appropriation therefor.

Enacts the "freedom to read act"; requires the commissioner of education and school library systems to develop policies to ensure that school libraries and library staff are empowered to curate and develop collections that provide students with access to the widest array of developmentally appropriate materials available.

This bill extends Monroe County's existing authority to impose an additional 1% sales and compensating use tax (on top of the current 3% rate) until November 30, 2027. The revenue from this tax will be distributed as follows: 5% to school districts outside Rochester, 3% to towns, 1.25% to villages, and 93.75% to the city of Rochester and Monroe County (with the county portion funding county operations). Distribution formulas are based on school enrollment for districts and population ratios for towns and villages, as defined in existing tax law. The extension covers the period from December 1, 2025, through November 30, 2027.