Dear friends,
A few weeks ago, I went to a budget workshop to learn about the NYS budget process and found out that the so-called ‘one-house budget’ really should be called the two-house budget because it’s a set of budgeting priorities agreed upon by the Assembly and Senate. This used to be a prelude to “three men in a room,” which is now two women and a man: the governor, Senate Majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and House Majority leader Carl Heastie.
In any case, before the three people go into a room to hammer out the annual budget, we the people have a little window of opportunity to focus legislators on our priorities.
As you may recall, Fair Pay for Home Care (A6329/S5374) was not included. Instead, the budget includes some bonuses, which are not the same as a living wage. Yesterday, I attended a meeting with NY Caring Majority and learned more about what went on at the legislative hearings.
Kendra Scalia, a disability and healthcare policy analyst who relies on home care, provided testimony before the Human Services Committee. She described, among other things, having to sleep in her wheelchair when no caregiver was available to assist her.
When she was done describing her situation, explaining that legislators have the power to change her life and the lives of others, the committee had questions for her.
They asked me, is the bonus from the Governor’s budget enough and I very pointedly let them know that no, it was not enough, that it does not address recruiting new folks to these jobs and that we need to entice hundreds of thousands of new workers to this field.
And more than that, that bonus is not enough to retain the folks that I do have.
They asked me what backup systems are in place, who do I call and what programs do I rely on when caregivers don’t show up and I let them know that there is no backup.
There are no other programs or services. So if you don’t have family, you don’t have friends, you don’t have neighbors that are willing to go without pay and leave their job for the entire day and complete some really physically demanding labor, you’re stuck.
Kendra was also asked about the budget director’s remarks about wages for home care workers. She rightly concluded that he needs to be educated if he believes that minimum wage is enough. This sounds like a job for us!
Contact Robert Mujica, the Budget Director for NYS, to let him know that minimum wage is for home care workers is the reason for the labor shortage. This is ready-made!
And now that we’ve schooled the budget director, use this readymade tool from Caring Majority to reach your legislators:
Tell your representatives that we need Fair Pay for Home Care now!
This is also the time for lobby visits, so that you can talk to legislators directly.
Sign up for a Zoom lobby visit to influence a legislator — preferably your own — to fight for climate investment. NY Renews is organizing!
If you don’t have time for a lobby visit, please email members of the Environmental Conservation Committee. They need to know that New Yorkers care about climate action.
Use this one-click action from NY Renews to push for climate action.
President Biden is in New York today, talking with Mayor Adams about addressing violence. Let’s remind B to talk to A about Rikers, where violence takes many forms.
Access to medical care on Rikers Island, or rather, the lack thereof, is the principle complaint of advocates and activists.
Data from the city itself shows that thousands of incarcerated people miss appointments each month. Lawyers for the detainees say that the lack of timely care, even for simple ailments, leads to extreme sickness and pain.
Dr. Bedard, who left Correctional Health Services this month, said that care on Rikers Island had been further shaped by the ongoing dysfunction at the jail complex.
“There is so much disorder and there’s so much violence that a lot of time is getting taken up attending to the consequences of that violence,” she said, adding that the medical clinic was compelled to spend much of its time addressing injuries caused by fights and other forms of violence.
She said that the lack of access to medical care, including mental health care, contributed to a situation in which health services were forced to react to medical crises, rather than pre-empting such emergencies.
Contact the President and ask him to intervene in the crisis on Rikers Island. The ready-made message has been updated.
Have a good day!
with love,
L