A.G. Schneiderman Leads Coalition Of 19 AGs Opposing Trump Administration's Attempt To Give Entities A License To Discriminate In Health Care

HHS Proposed Rule Seeks to Expand Ability of Businesses and Individuals to Refuse to Provide Necessary Health Care on the Basis of Their “Religious, Moral, Ethical, or Other” Beliefs

  New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, leading a coalition of 19 Attorneys General, filed comments opposing the Trump Department of Health and Human Services’ Proposed Rule, which seeks to dramatically expand the ability of businesses and individuals to refuse to provide necessary health care on the basis of businesses' or employees’ “religious, moral, ethical, or other beliefs.” 

“At a time when many New Yorkers and Americans are struggling to access decent health care, the Trump administration is trying to put ideology before patient safety and care – under the guise of religious freedom,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “The law is clear, providing a time-tested, established framework that balances respect for religious freedom with the rights and needs of patients, employers, and states.”

The Trump administration proposes to unlawfully expand purposefully narrow existing protections, without consideration of the consequences. For example, the rule would allow businesses, including employers, to object to providing insurance coverage for procedures they consider objectionable. The rule would also allow individual health care personnel to object to informing patients about their medical options or referring them to providers of those options. Finally, the rule would impose particularly enormous burdens on marginalized patients, including LGBT patients, who already confront discrimination in obtaining health care. 

Placing the objections of businesses and health care workers above patient safety and care violates existing federal and state laws and undermines state public health efforts to ensure access to care. Additionally, the Proposed Rule unconstitutionally seeks to coerce the States’ compliance with its unlawful requirements by threatening to terminate billions of dollars in federal health care funding if HHS determines that the States have failed—or even “threatened” to fail—to comply with the rule.  

Because HHS’s proposed rule would increase the risk of harm to patients and be inconsistent with the text of several federal and state laws and the Constitution, the Attorneys General are urging that the Proposed Rule be withdrawn. 

Click here to read the comments, which were submitted by the Attorneys General of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

DOI Statement on NYPD's Response to Our Findings on NYPD's Special Victims Division - Adult Sex Crimes

The City of New York Department of Investigation 

MARK G. PETERS COMMISSIONER

  DOI’s Report on NYPD’s Special Victims Division (SVD) is evidence based. It relies on the NYPD’s own documents, which are attached to the report, as well as interviews with the most senior person in charge of SVD, Deputy Chief Michael Osgood, Commanding Officer of SVD, who has been running the unit since 2011. In addition, DOI spoke with other SVD supervisors, senior sex crimes prosecutors in all five District Attorney’s offices, numerous recent retirees of SVD and all major victim advocates in New York City. Furthermore, we shared the report with and requested comment from Commissioner O’Neill nearly two weeks ago.

 NYPD’s statement inaccurately notes two numbers: 

1: In 2017, the average caseload of an SVD investigator was 77 (not 62). The 77 number is based on NYPD’s own documentation. (Homicide detectives average two cases per year). 

2: The number of detectives assigned to actively investigate adult sex crimes is 67 (not 85) and the NYPD did not dispute that number last Friday when we discussed the report with NYPD officials. (NYPD has a total of 3,000 detectives).

  The report does not dispute the survivor-centered model or FETI. In fact, we commend these initiatives in our report. 

 DOI’s report demonstrates this: more needs to be done to properly respond to victims of adult sex crimes. The NYPD’s refusal to recognize this presents additional barriers to sex crimes victims in their pursuit of justice.

CONGRESSMAN ADRIANO ESPAILLAT CALLS FOUL ON U.S. CENSUS BUREAU’S DECISION TO ADD CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO 2020 CENSUS

 Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) released the following statement regarding the U.S. Census Bureau’s decision to add a question regarding citizenship to the 2020 Census.

“I am deeply concerned following the decision by the Trump Administration and U.S. Census Bureau to add a new citizenship question to the 2020 Census. By doing so, at the request of the Department of Justice and without proper review, this undermines the accuracy and reliability of the 2020 Census.

“I call on the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to formally object to the inclusion of this outdated and hazardous question. Including a citizenship question on the full Census, an action last done in the 1950s, will drive people underground. Asking respondents their citizenship status is unnecessary and harms the reliability and accuracy of the Census by drastically reducing the response rate, particularly among the already undercounted minority and immigrant communities. In an effort to conduct a fair and accurate Census, we must ensure the questions are appropriate and meaningful.

“The Constitutionally-mandated Decennial Census is one of the most consequential responsibilities of our federal government. The Census is the backbone of a fair and fully representative government, utilized to determine how funding and resources are allocated to Congressional districts around the nation.

“The Census is how our voices are counted, and the decision to add a new citizenship question creates fear, intimidation and removes the voices of millions of individuals from representation from the federal government. I promise to continue fighting to ensure that my constituents are counted and the diversity and inclusion within our communities are represented fairly, accurately and without interference by the divisive Trump Administration and hate based proposals being put forth.”

In a letter to the U.S. Census Bureau, Congressman Espaillat expressed early concerns regarding the 2020 Census and called for accurate reporting.

MAYOR DE BLASIO, NYC BUSINESS & LABOR LEADERS DENOUNCE TRUMP PUSH TO ADD CITIZENSHIP QUESTION TO 2020 CENSUS

  Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Association for a Better New York today warned that the decision by the Trump administration to add a citizenship question, asking every family in America about their immigration status, to the 2020 Census will have a serious, negative impact on New York City.  The question is likely to depress response rates among immigrant communities and result in an inaccurate count that will hurt New York State’s representation and federal funding, and, fundamentally, our American democracy.

"New York City is joining Attorney General Schneiderman’s lawsuit to stop President Trump from this unprecedented move to politicize the census. A fair and accurate 2020 count is constitutionally mandated to ensure political power and resources remain with the people – where they belong. President Trump’s decision puts our amazing city of immigrants in jeopardy and threatens federal funding for infrastructure, health care and public safety in New York,” said Mayor de Blasio. 

“The citizenship question undermines an accurate census for all America. It stokes fear, increases the likelihood of a false count, and unfairly harms cities and states like New York where immigrants are a deep and important part of the fabric,” said Steven Rubenstein, Chairman of the Association for a Better New York. “We urge Secretary Ross to reconsider this damaging decision that will further discourage these already hard to count populations from participating.”

With a population of 8.6 million people, New York City is the most populous and ethnically diverse city in the United States. Two hundred languages are spoken in the five boroughs and more than 3 million of the city’s residents were born in other countries. New York has the largest Latino, Caribbean, Asian, and African populations of any American City. Our diversity is a hallmark of our strength.

The addition of a citizenship question to the short-form Census for the first time since 1950 could reduce participation in the Census from all immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.

Before the administration decided to add this politically-charged question in to the decennial count, the challenges faced by the 2020 Census were already enormous. That is due to highly charged anti-immigrant rhetoric coming out of Trump administration and internet security breaches which have dominated the headlines.

The decennial census count determines representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, is used to draw political district at federal, state, and local levels, and affects the flow of billions of dollars in federal funds to the State and City. An inaccurate count is also bad for business, as many companies use census data to locate stores and allocate resources.

The flow of dollars to New York State and, by extension New York City, from the federal government is also affected by the census count. An undercount shortchanges the city, hurting its ability to provide affordable housing, maintain infrastructure, and provide for the needs of residents in the areas of education and health, especially related to the well-being of children. These are services that residents of all creeds, nationalities, and economic class use on a daily basis.

The decision to include a question about a family’s immigration status is a bipartisan issue. It will hurt all immigrant-heavy states, including Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. Earlier this year, the United States Conference of Mayors, with more than 160 mayors across the political spectrum issued a letter calling on Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to reject a push to include a citizenship question in the 2020 Census. Civil rights advocates have also raised alarms over the question.

The Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the United States Code, which means personal information provided for the Census cannot be published, shared or even given to any other government agency. Despite that, the City and ABNY remain highly concerned that the citizenship question will depress participation in the 2020 Census and so do immense harm the City, the State and Country.

The removal of this question is necessary to protect an accurate count and a correct reapportionment of federal representation and dollars to New York and other affected states throughout the nation. The City will continue its advocacy against deleterious changes, including a citizenship question, to the 2020 Census.

“The Trump Administration’s claim that adding a citizenship question to the census will protect voting rights is preposterous and hardly conceals their true intent. This is plain and simple another attack on immigrant communities,” said Bitta Mostofi, Acting Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “As federal administrations have acknowledged for the better part of a century, an accurate count of every person ensures an equitable distribution of resources for critical services, like housing and health care. We will continue to fight changes like these that aim to distort our democracy and enflame fears among immigrant New Yorkers.”

MAYOR DE BLASIO SIGNS LEGISLATION EXTENDING RENT STABILIZATION LAWS

The law affirms NYC is in a housing emergency, extends rent stabilization to 2021

  Mayor de Blasio today signed legislation that affirms New York City remains in a housing emergency and extends rent regulation laws for three years, through April 1, 2021. The City law is based on the 2017 Housing and Vacancy Survey, which shows a 3.63% vacancy rate.

A vacancy rate below 5% allows the State rent regulation laws to continue to be effective in New York City. Conducted roughly every three years since 1965, the survey is used to measure the rental vacancy rate and housing stock for the five boroughs of New York City.

As rent regulation comes up for renewal in Albany next year, the de Blasio administration will fight for vital reforms to retain the stock of rent stabilized apartments, ensure current tenants are secure in their homes, and protect the benefits of rent stabilization for future tenants. Those reforms include:

·         End High-Rent Vacancy Decontrol: The City is calling for the elimination of vacancy decontrol. Currently, a vacant apartment with a rent of $2,733.75 per month may be deregulated.

·         End the Vacancy Allowance: The City is calling for the elimination of the 20 percent increase in monthly rent when tenants vacate an apartment. This allowance has created strong incentives for bad actors to pressure tenants out of their homes in the hopes of faster-rising rents.

·         Limit  Individual Apartment Improvement (IAI) and Major Capital Improvement (MCI) Increases: The City is calling for limits on how landlords can use permanent rent increases for building-wide or individual apartments. These increases are utilized as a mechanism for driving up legal rents to reach the threshold for rent deregulation.

“Reforming our State’s rent laws is a top priority. As we continue to invest to produce historic levels of affordable apartments housing, we must also protect New York tenants from illegal  harassment by landlords looking to push them out to charge higher, but illegal, rent. The status quo is unacceptable,” Mayor de Blasio said.

“The latest HVS data confirm that New York City continues to face an affordability crisis driven by rising rents. That is why this administration expanded and accelerated the housing plan to secure 300,000 affordable homes by 2026, and why we are now extending the rent regulation laws in New York City that are so critical to protecting our residents. I thank the Mayor and the City Council for their leadership in fighting for stronger rent laws to shield tenants from harassment and displacement and safeguard the stock of low-cost housing necessary to preserve the affordability of neighborhoods,” said HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer.

“Rent regulation is the most critical tool we have for maintaining affordable housing in New York City. Today, we are taking the first step by renewing the finding that we are still in a housing crisis, so the State can extend rent regulation for another three years. This year’s Housing Vacancy Survey results are staggering and show that it is necessary for the City to extend rent regulation, and we will continue to work on legislation that protects tenants and we will continue to increase opportunities to access affordable housing. I thank Housing and Buildings Committee Chair Robert Cornegy for his support on this crucial legislation,” said Speaker Corey Johnson.

NEWS FROM CONGRESSMAN ELIOT ENGEL

Engel Marks 8^th Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a top member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement:

“It was my privilege to help craft the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and vote for its passage. In the eight years since it was signed into law, we’ve seen millions gain insurance coverage, new consumer protections codified, and essential services guaranteed for the first time, ensuring Americans get premium value for their dollars.

“But on top of that, we’ve seen the idea that health care is a right, not a privilege, face test after test and prevail every time. We have defeated Republicans’ incessant attempts to repeal the ACA, and have met head on the challenges posed by the Trump Administration. More than 4.3 million New Yorkers signed up for health care coverage during the most recent enrollment period – 700,000 more than in 2017, despite the Administration’s repeated attempts to sabotage the process.

“Now, it’s time to finish the work we started with the ACA. We must fight the Trump Administration’s insidious ploy to take away quality coverage by letting junk plans proliferate. We must reject policies like Medicaid work requirements that do nothing to bring care to those who need it. And we must once and for all commit ourselves fully to truly universal health care by passing H.R. 676, the Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act.”

Engel Fights Opioid Crisis With New Legislation

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a top member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, participated in a two-day subcommittee hearing this week examining solutions to the opioid crisis. The subcommittee considered more than two dozen bills, including two co-authored by Congressman Engel: H.R. 5272, the Reinforcing Evidence-Based Standards Under Law in Treating Substance Abuse (RESULTS) Act, and H.R. 5329, the Poison Center Network Enhancement Act.

The RESULTS Act, co-led by Congressman Engel and Congressman Steve Stivers (R-OH), would ensure that federal grants intended to treat mental health and substance use disorders fund activities that are backed by sound evidence. The legislation also ensures stakeholders have the necessary tools to emulate successful programs in their communities.

The committee also considered the Poison Center Network Enhancement Act, legislation co-led by Congressman Engel and Congresswoman Susan Brooks (R-IN). This bill will reauthorize the nation’s poison center program for an additional five years. Since 2011, U.S. poison centers have handled nearly 200 cases per day involving opioid misuse. Poison center experts have also helped detect trends in the epidemic and educated Americans about the crisis. This bill would ensure these activities continue. Congressman Engel co-authored the last poison center reauthorization, the Poison Center Network Act (P.L. 113-77), which was signed into law in 2014.

“More action is needed to turn the tide on the opioid crisis, which is why I have co-authored these two bipartisan bills,” Engel said. “Too many of our friends and neighbors have been touched by this heartbreaking crisis. In Westchester County, 124 people died due to opioids in 2016. In the Bronx, more New Yorkers died of overdoses than in any other borough. This has to stop.

“I hope that the solutions I’ve sponsored can help bring this public health emergency to an end – but the Trump Administration must act, too. Medicaid and the protections guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act have helped Americans grappling with substance use disorders get the treatment they need. If the Trump Administration is serious about ending the opioid epidemic, the attacks on these lifelines must end.”  

OPENING DAY CELEBRATION WHITEY FORD MURAL AND FREE SOUVENIRS

  The 161 st Street Business Improvement District (BID) is gearing up for Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.

 The Jeter Meter on River Ave.(bet 161 & 162 St.) reads, ”Welcome Back Yankees.”

 Free 28 IN 2018 buttons will be distributed to fans at Billy’s, The Dugout, Stan’s and Yankee Tavern (while supplies last).

 A new mural featuring Yankee legends, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford and Thurman Munson, will be introduced by famed portraitist, Andre Trenier.

“Whitey Ford is a Hall of Famer who epitomizes victory,”said Dr. Cary Goodman, the BID’s founding, executive director.”Hopefully his portrait will bring a winning spirit to this year’s team, and we’ll celebrate 28 in 2018.”

Wednesday, March 28, 

11:00 AM, 

YANKEE TAVERN, 72 E. 161 ST STREET

Cynthia Nixon’s Full Remarks on Cuomo’s Budget and the Culture of Corruption in Albany

 For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been coming to Albany for a long time. I’ve come here with organizers and public school parents and students from all across the state to demand public schools in every district get the resources they need, regardless of the students’ zip code or skin color.

I’ve come here with activists from the LGBT community fighting to pass the Marriage Equality Law. I’ve come here with all the women and men who support Planned Parenthood who are fighting to not only protect, but expand our reproductive rights with the Women’s Equality Agenda (a bill that was defeated by Andrew Cuomo’s Republican-controlled Senate.) I’ve come to Albany mad as hell about Republicans. And I’ve come here mad as hell about corporate Democrats.

And now I’ve come to Albany to join my brothers and sisters here today, to say: it’s time for a change.

There’s something different in the air this year in New York and around our country that’s empowering us to fight back. In 2018, New Yorkers know that if we aren’t going to tolerate the gutting of our public schools by Betsy DeVos or the reckless greed and corruption in the White House, we certainly won’t tolerate it in our own backyard.

In 2010, Andrew Cuomo stood in front of the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan announcing his run for governor on a promise to clean up Albany.

But he’s cleaned up Albany about as much as Trump has drained the swamp in Washington.

Governor Cuomo created the Moreland Commission, supposedly to investigate corruption, then shut it down the minute it started looking into his own activity.

His best friend and top aide, Joe Percoco, was just found guilty of bribery and corruption -- exactly the kind of bribery and corruption Governor Cuomo said he was going to get rid of. And in a few months, another top associate of the Governor will be put on trial for corruption around how the Buffalo Billion was spent.

But it’s important to understand that this illegal corruption is part of a larger system of legalized bribery and corruption. A system where Andrew Cuomo is taking 99.9% of his donations from large donors, corporations and the ultra-rich who want to rig our democracy for the few. It is the legal corruption of Andrew Cuomo making a back room deal to put the Trump Republicans in charge of the State Senate so he can blame them when he does not want to deliver on progressive legislation and tax hikes on multi-millionaires.

We must dismantle this system of legalized bribery in New York -- large corporations here can and do donate unlimited campaign contributions through the LLC loophole, thereby wielding tremendous power and influence over state policies that benefit them and only them. Increasingly we see a New York where so few have so much, and so many have so little.

This week four men are gathering inside a mansion to discuss New York’s budget -- a document that should be a list of priorities and values for our state. Joe Biden once said, “Don't tell me your values. Show me your budget and I'll show you your values.”

The Assembly under Speaker Heastie has a number of proposals that put forward values of fairness and justice.

And what values will the old boys club of Cuomo, Klein, and Flanagan be upholding in that mansion?

In Yonkers we have one guidance counselor for every 739 students. Libraries with librarians, no or few AP classes, crumbling buildings, special ed and other classes taking place in closets and hallways. In Utica we have 40 languages spoken, but a dearth of teachers for those many English language learners. Will Governor Cuomo continue to punt on fully funding all of New York’s public schools while children still don’t have adequate resources?

Governor Cuomo always talks about the average spending per pupil in New York State, but that ignores the reality that the wealthy, white schools spend $30,000 per pupil and in some cases $40,000 or $50,000 or even more. Our 100 wealthiest school districts spend almost $10,000 more per pupil than our 100 poorest to drive up that average. The Cuomo budget does not address students in Poughkeepsie or Yonkers or Central Brooklyn or so many other places.

Today I am here to join public school families from across New York in calling on Governor Cuomo and the Republican-IDC coalition in the Senate to embrace the plan put forward by the State Assembly Majority, and enact a budget that includes a $1.5 billion increase in school aid, including $1.2 billion in Foundation Aid and a plan to phase in the full $4.2 billion owed to our schools.

In 2014 Andrew Cuomo promised that he was going to expand pre-K to all New York’s children -- not just those in New York City. In fact, he declared had done it. Ala George Bush: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! But four years later 79% of four year olds outside NYC lack full-day pre-K and under this Cuomo budget, it would take nearly 57 years to make full day pre-K universal. So there may not be hope for the vast majority of this year’s 4 year old’s but there’s hope for their GRANDCHILDREN.

Governor Cuomo’s entire argument on school funding is just one big excuse to ignore the lives of students who are black or brown or working class. The Cuomo budget does not value the lives of the majority of New York’s children.

At a time of record inequality, why should we accept $190 million in cuts to New York City’s already underfunded child welfare and juvenile justice services -- services that provide critical support for low-income children of color? The Cuomo budget contains a disastrous proposal to eliminate state funding for the Close To Home Program, which since it was introduced in 2012, has been credited with reducing the number of juvenile arrests by 52% and detentions by 37%.

Nearly 90% of the children caught up in New York City’s juvenile justice system are children of color. Why should we accept cuts that we all know will send more black and brown children into prison rather than good schools? Why should we accept more cops in our schools (making students feel like criminals) instead of guidance counselors that can help them work out problems? We need more library books and smart boards, not more metal detectors.

This fueling of the school-to-prison pipeline is how public education has now become the major civil rights issue of our time. It’s time for New York to move toward fairness and justice in our public school and criminal justice system. That’s why we can’t settle for more excuses on why we can’t go all the way on reforming pre-trial services and fully ending money bail in New York.

And at a time where millions of women are making their voices heard, why should we settle for sexual harassment policies that are being discussed behind closed doors without a single woman present? The Governor’s backroom deals have left us with a situation where Andrea Stewart Cousins (the leader of the Senate Democrats) is not in the room, but the king of the 8-member IDC Jeff Klein, who is accused of sexual misconduct himself, is.

When Speaker Heastie goes to the mansion, he is surrounded by an old boys club of one actual Republican and two wannabe Republicans. It’s clear those three men in the “room where it happens” have a system that gets each of them what he wants. And that they are working more for each other than they are for the people of New York.

In a few days, Governor Cuomo will walk out of that room and do what he always does: promise big, get some headlines, and ultimately hand all the power over to his buddies in the Republican Senate.

It’s all scripted. He deserves an Oscar for his performance. Some might say his lack of acting-experience makes him unqualified but I actually think he’s doing pretty well. Just goes to show you what a novice can do if they put their mind to it. In New York City, he puts on an entire Broadway Show to parade around as a progressive Democrat leading the resistance. But in Albany, he is deftly handing power over to the party of Donald Trump.

And New Yorkers are beginning to smell the truth. The Cuomo budget puts New York’s children at back of the bus while giving the best seats to millionaires and corporate freeloaders.

Meanwhile, members of the Assembly have supported adding three new income tax brackets for multi-millionaires. They have proposed taxing luxury real estate and real estate speculators. Even the progressive revenue plan the Governor claims to support -- closing the carried interest loophole which allows hedge fund managers to pay a lower capital gains rate on their income -- is doomed to fail because the Republican led coalition he engineered in the Senate won't have it.

Governor Cuomo says he believes making the ultra-rich pay their fair share would drive them out of New York. Or he once again blames everything on the Republican Senate that he put in power in the first place -- or he simply bullies everyone around him, women especially.

I have seen Andrew Cuomo mansplaining and lecturing women on sexual harassment. I have read about him lecturing Andrea Stewart-Cousins that Jeff Klein is more qualified in understanding suburban voters than she is despite her being a Senator from the suburbs of Westchester.

We’ve all seen it: it’s Andrew the Bully. He bullies other elected officials, he bullies anyone who criticizes him and he even bullies the media with his references to your “small questions.”

But worst of all his budgets bully our children and our families by shortchanging them, boxing them in by denying them the opportunities they are owed. It reminds me of the behavior we see from Donald Trump every day.

Well my experience has taught me that there is only one way to deal with a bully. You have to stand up to him. You have to send a loud and clear message that you will not be bullied. And I am here to tell you, I am one woman who has the experience to say, that the people of New York are sick of being  bullied. We have had it with waiting and watching when the Cuomo budget bullies our children and families.

As always with Andrew Cuomo it is black, brown and low-income children who will get the worst end of the deal while developers, bankers, and hedge funds keep walking through Albany’s revolving door.

New York already has everything we need for each of us to thrive. It’s time to usher in a new generation of leadership who will fight for all New Yorkers, leaders like the people standing here with me today.

The old boys club in Albany might have a lot of money, they might have a lot of arrogance,-- but in the end, we must remember they only have as much power as We, the People, let them.