In unsurprising news, the April 1 deadline for the 2025 New York State budget will be coming and going without a final budget. This means it’s not too late to keep pushing for the legislation needed to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and caregivers.
NYC Fair has shared talking points and easy ways to advocate. Most needed: a 3.2% COLA for direct support professionals (DSPs); a $4,000 wage enhancement to DSPs via the Direct Support Wage Enhancement bill; and restoring the drastic cuts Gov. Hochul has proposed to the Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Program (CDPAP).
RELATED NEWS: Why We Need the New York Complex Care Assistant Act
Below are the tips shared by NYC Fair (Family, Advocacy, Information & Resources for People with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities), as well as other organizations NYC Fair is amplifying.
One-click ways to advocate
https://www.ancor.org/advocac
https://thearcny.org/budget-a
https://nyalliance.org/Advoca
Write and call your legislators
Talking points
NYDA: New York Disabilities Advocates’ suggests these talking points when reaching out to Senators and Assembly Members.
NYDA has has supplied a call script, found here.
And here is NYC FAIR’s response to the governor’s budget.
