21 Apr NYS Budget fails disability community once again
This is not what people with disabilities need.
As the New York state budget drags itself to the finish line, we are seeing that the final Health and Mental Hygiene budget includes a 2.84% cost-of-living-adjustment, with a stipulation that agencies use some of those funds to provide a 1.7% wage increase to most staff.
This is a far cry from the 3.2% COLA and $4,000 wage increase the disability services sector needs and strongly advocated for.
This is a cut, plain and simple.
A 3.2% COLA would have allowed nonprofit providers to keep up with the rising costs of food, gas, and other essentials without cutting services and programs – it also would have helped providers maintain salary levels with the cost of inflation. The separate wage investment we sought would have addressed the workforce crisis affecting the field, and brought nonprofit pay rates a little closer to their state-operated counterparts. It would have gotten us on the path to providing a living wage as we did before the cuts to disability providers began in the Cuomo Administration.
Both of these things would have directly benefited New Yorkers with disabilities.
Instead, we find ourselves in a position we’re all too familiar with: Doing more with less. Trying to maintain the quality of services for people with disabilities while costs skyrocket and our staff leave for better paying and less demanding – if less fulfilling – jobs.
When announcing a conceptual agreement on the 2025 State Budget, the Governor proudly declared, “We got it done.”
If “it” is once again failing the almost 500,000 New Yorkers receiving services, working in the field, or family members depending on the nonprofit disability service system, then… yeah, our leaders got it done.
As for us, we’re not done.
CP State and its Affiliates advocate relentlessly for people with disabilities and we’re not going to be discouraged by this budget. Our Affiliates have done an amazing job this year -traveling to rallies, meeting with representatives, and sending countless messages to elected officials.
I’d love to say that we can take a breather for a couple months and recover, but the fact of the matter is we don’t have that luxury.
People with disabilities need us. Families need us. Staff need us.
Let’s assess what worked and what didn’t and get right back to the business of fighting for people with disabilities.
In the coming days, CP State will send a detailed analysis of the final budget and an updated advocacy toolkit. In the meantime, you can reach out to us if you have any questions.
I want to thank you for your continued advocacy and for being part of the CP State family.
Sincerely,
Mike Alvaro
President and CEO
CP State