| Stop the Vetoes! HSC Urges Support for Discretionary Funding |
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| Thursday, 15 July 2010 02:17 |
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The Human Services Council of New York City (HSC) is calling on Governor Paterson to “authorize funding for previously appropriated legislative initiatives and ensure future appropriations that are crucial to helping New Yorkers in need.” HSC is also calling on individual nonprofits to join in the effort to highlight the importance of this critical issue.
As NYNP reported yesterday, nonprofits are about to lose hundreds of millions of dollars that support thousands of individual human service programs throughout the state. Budget bills signed by the Governor so far include no new legislative member item funding at all for the current fiscal year which began on April 1st. And, last week the Governor took the extraordinary step of vetoing thousands of re-appropriations for member item grants which had been passed and signed – but not yet paid due to State bureaucratic delays– during prior fiscal years. In many cases, the programs and services funded by these grants have already been provided by nonprofits which will suffer significant financial losses due to the Governor’s action.
The combined impact of this loss of both previously-promised and traditionally anticipated legislative funding will be devastating to nonprofit human service providers, say advocates.
“We need to act quickly,” said HSC policy analyst Michelle Jackson, Esq. in an email to member agencies yesterday. “It is very important that we take this opportunity before the legislature reconvenes to advocate for the importance of discretionary funding to the work of not-for-profits, the necessity of getting the Governor’s vetoes rescinded, and the need for discretionary funding to be included in FY11. We must project a strong voice about the value of this funding, or risk losing it, not only this year, but in future budgets as resources continue to be scarce.”
In addition to its own letter to the Governor, HSC is urging all nonprofit providers to send similar letters – both to the Governor and their State Senators and Assembly Members -- explaining the important role which legislative member item funding plays in supporting direct services to vulnerable New Yorkers. (Click here to download a copy of the HSC letter.)
HSC and other umbrella groups are coordinating their efforts. A press conference to highlight the importance of this issue is tentatively planned for July 27th at 11:30am at City Hall. |
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