NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE CALLS FOR FUNDING KEY PRIORITIES IN STATE BUDGET AS NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE

 

As state lawmakers are in the final weeks of negotiations for the coming Fiscal Year 2024 budget, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams is calling on the governor and legislative leaders to allocate funding to key priorities in areas including housing, public safety, healthcare, education, and environmental justice. In a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Carl Heastie, he outlined these priority programs and the need for a state budget that centers progressive, equitable investment for New Yorkers most in need. The Public Advocate will also travel to Albany today and meet with lawmakers as part of the SOMOS Albany Conference.

“New Yorkers deserve a bright future that includes safe and adequate housing, health care, with accountability and transparency on what services the state prioritizes,” writes Public Advocate Williams in his request. “With the long term effects of Covid still to be seen, a prioritization of health care services is more vital than ever. With soaring grocery and housing costs and stagnant wages, access to food and medicine are concerns today like we haven’t seen before in my lifetime. Communities of more color that have been overlooked in the budget process in the past continue to face the worst repercussions of this disinvestment. For an economy that works best for all New Yorkers, no matter our identity or economic class, I ask you to consider and prioritize the following budget allocations, which would improve the lives of countless New York City and State residents.”

Among the spending priorities that the Public Advocate outlines are:

Improving Responses to Individuals in Mental Health Crisis

Funding a Gun Violence Prevention Initiative

Increasing Salary and Resources for EMT and Emergency Responders

Fighting Climate Change and Implementing Local Law 97

Implementing Restorative Justice and Mental Health Support in Schools

Improving Access to Bilingual Programming for English Language Learners

Expanding Support for Asylum Seekers

Allocating Opioid Settlement Funding for Overdose Prevention Centers

Enacting the Housing Access Voucher Program

Ensuring the Statewide Right to Counsel

Supporting the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act

Additionally, the Public Advocate is calling for revenue raising measures, including increasing taxes on the top 5% of earners by restructuring NY’s income tax to make it more progressive and raise up to $15 billion per year annually. He is also pushing for a capital gains tax to combat existing loopholes and raise $7 billion for the state each year. These measures would help to support the progressive programs outlined in the request.

Read the Public Advocate’s full letter and monetary requests here.