Jeanette Wolfberg reports for The Columbia Paper that as in-person classes at Hudson schools start again Sept. 14, the state has begun to withhold 20 percent of the money it earmarked to pay the school district in installments throughout the year. The cuts are coming statewide because of the enormous costs the state has taken on during the coronavirus pandemic without much help from the federal government. “Unfortunately, we’ve already seen some of the loss,” Business Administrator Jesse Boehme said on Sept. 1. And like the state of New York, the COVID-19 pandemic is costing Hudson schools more money too. The U.S. House of Representatives, led by Democrats, passed a bill months ago to fund state and local governments, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said that that money would eliminate the need for the 20 percent cuts. But last week the Republican-led U.S. Senate did not pass a coronavirus relief package that did not include state funding, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to let his chamber vote on the House bill. “It all depends on the timing and size of the federal relief,” Boehme said of what measures Hudson schools will have to take. Boehme estimates the Hudson schools will see “around $4.7 million” budget shortfall this year because of the lack of federal help. Read more about this story in The Columbia Paper.