A select group of smaller communities in New York could benefit from a $100 million program proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in her 2022-23 executive budget.

Hochul wants to establish the New York Forward program, which would be modeled after the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The regional economic development councils would select the villages or hamlets to receive state funding. In the DRI, each winning municipality receives $10 million.

The goal of New York Forward, according to the budget briefing book released by Hochul’s office on Tuesday, is to “advance the renaissance of our smaller downtowns.”

“The state’s investment in shovel-ready projects that demonstrate their ability to accelerate revitalization will strengthen the competitiveness of future community projects, overcoming barriers and closing the gap between the trajectory of New York state’s small communities and larger urban centers,” the book reads.

While any downtown area is eligible for a DRI prize, the awards typically go to cities. In central New York, past recipients include Auburn, Oswego and Syracuse. In other regions, there have been villages that won awards. Newark, in Wayne County, won $10 million in 2021.

But the New York Forward program would create an easier path for smaller communities to receive state funding for downtown areas.

“Governor Hochul knows the value of hamlets and villages as the connection that ties our rural communities together,” the governor’s office wrote in the State of the State book released earlier this month. “The successful DRI demonstrates that New York state’s plan-then-build approach to downtown revitalization works, but more needs to be done to revitalize the burgeoning hamlets and villages of the state.”

Along with New York Forward, Hochul also proposed the sixth round of DRI grants. The program would receive $100 million, with $10 million for each of the 10 regional councils.

Hochul’s budget address on Tuesday was the official kickoff of budget season in Albany. There will be legislative hearings to discuss the executive budget and both houses will pass their own plans. That’s when negotiations usually heat up between the governor and state legislative leaders, who hope to pass a new state budget before the start of the fiscal year on April 1.