April 3, 2024

In light of ongoing budget negotiations and the need for EVERYONE to keep the pressure on lawmakers to ensure our budget priorities are included in the new budget (whenever it materializes), we are requesting that ALL NYS Council members make 3 phone calls tomorrow (Thursday) morning in place of our regularly scheduled Thursday morning NYS Council Member Support Call.

First, call the Governor’s Office and urge the Executive to ensure that meaningful OMIG Audit Reform language is included in the SFY25 enacted budget. 

While you are there, please also urge the Executive to hold fast to its original executive budget proposal that includes a 3.2% Human Services COLA free of any restrictions in terms of how providers can use these funds.  

Call the Governor’s Office:   (518) 474-8390

Next call our Assembly and Senate leaders and urge them to ensure that the Commercial Rate Mandate for mental health and substance use disorder services, that they included in their one-house budgets (Part AA in the Health/Mental Hygiene section) is enacted as part of the SFY 25 enacted budget.  Tell the person you are speaking with about how meaningful this change will be for the individuals with commercial insurance that you currently serve, and how this groundbreaking proposal will address a longstanding access to care inequity that disproportionately impacts New Yorkers with private insurance.

While you are there, please tell the person you are speaking with that your second ‘must have’ is a 3.2% Human Services COLA that is free from limitations as to how these funds can be used by eligible providers.  Remind the person you are talking to that state agencies require COLA eligible provider agencies to attest to their use of the funds as required in the enacted budget.

Call Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins at: (518) 455-2585

Call Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at:  (518) 455-3791