10 Jan Governor Ignores Workforce Crisis in SotS

Statement from Mike Alvaro, President of the New York Disability Advocates on Governor Hochul 2024 State of the State Address 

We are deeply concerned that in Governor Hochul’s State of the State today, there was no direct mention of the workforce crisis that has plagued New York’s Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) sector for over a decade, nor were there any proposals to address this crisis.

Today Governor Hochul made a commitment to “enacting a vision of New York … where people with disabilities are free to pursue their dreams.”

To realize that commitment to New Yorkers with disabilities and the individuals who support and care for them, New York Disability Advocates (NYDA) has outlined two separate and distinct solutions from their Invest in Me Agenda and hopes that the Governor includes these proposals in the SFY 2025 budget proposal next week: 

• Including a 3.2% Cost-Of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) which functions as a Medicaid rate increase for the provider agencies that support the entire system.
• Establishing a Direct Support Wage Enhancement (DSWE), which serves as a separate correction for Direct Support wages to address years of wage stagnation and increases hourly pay for direct care workers to enhance recruitment and retention in the workforce.

NYDA looks forward to working with the Governor and the legislature to make these two solutions a reality in the upcoming final SFY 2025 NYS Budget.

Let her know it’s just not right

We’re here to help CP State tries to make advocacy as easy as possible. We’ve developed a suite of materials ranging from planners, how-tos and palm cards, to one-sheets on workforce issues and system investment. If you’re a CP Affiliate and would like these materials customized with your logo, branding, and contact information, just let us know!