June 23, 2025

Federal lawmakers are returning to Washington today to continue Budget Reconciliation negotiations. The Senate appears to be racing towards passage of its bill before the July 4 holiday despite numerous problems coming from Conservative Republicans as well as those more moderate R’s that are fearful of alienating voters in certain states.  All of this makes the week ahead critically important in terms of focused advocacy that pressures lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to reject budget reconciliation bills that include provisions that would reduce or eliminate critical programs and services vital to New Yorkers with mental health and substance use disorder conditions, and the providers that serve them.

Here’s a link to a letter we drafted that you can send to New York State Senators, and those NYS House delegation members with a previous track record for voting ‘yes’ on budget reconciliation proposals that will harm New Yorkers.  https://nyscouncil.org/advocacy-action-center/  If you live/work in a district where the zip code you put into the Voter Voice system corresponds with a targeted member of the NYS delegation, you will be able to send a letter to your House representative as well as our NYS Senators lawmakers – otherwise the tool will focus you on sending the letter to our two NYS Senators.

Please take a moment to send a letter/s to your elected officials in Washington, and share this advocacy request with any interested colleagues, family members, board members and others who want to take a stand on behalf of vulnerable New Yorkers.  This is the week to do it!  Let’s generate lots of letters that convey a clear message that we will not stand for votes that jeopardize healthcare and other human rights to pay for frivolous tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Any questions?  Please contact me at 518 461-8200 or lauri@nyscouncil.org  at your convenience.
THANK YOU!!!