[NYAPRS Enews] MH Tax Check-Off Supporters Look to Plan B

[Briana Gilmore]

NYAPRS Note: NYAPRS supports the tremendous advocacy efforts of MHANYS as they persist in efforts to achieve the mental health tax check-off bill into the remainder of the legislative session. The tax check-off would provide funding for anti-stigma efforts that are crucial to ensuring access to needed services and supports for people needing mental healthcare.

Mental Health Tax Check-Off Supporters Look to Plan B
The Journal News; Matt Coyne, 4/4/2015

The mental health tax check-off was one of the many policies that fell by the wayside <http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/albany-watch/2015/04/04/state-budget-leaves-issues-unresolved/25289447/> during state budget deliberations, but supporters are confident it's not dead yet.
The check-off, which has the support of the mental health associations<http://www.lohud.com/story/money/personal-finance/taxes/2015/03/13/mental-health-organiations-push-tax-check-program-awareness-campaign/70301336/> in all three counties and several other organizations throughout the Lower Hudson Valley, would allow New Yorkers to make tax-free donations to mental health awareness campaigns on their tax forms. Supporters were hoping that it would be included in the budget, but it fell by the wayside like other policy recommendations as.
Now, supporters look to the Legislature to pass a bill authorizing the check-off they hope will help fight the stigma around mental illness.
"We are still mounting a campaign, because there's no fiscal attached to this," said state Mental Health Association CEO Glenn Liebman, who noted most of the check-offs were authorized through the budget process. "We're still optimistic we'll get it done before the (end of the) session."
The check-off has long been a priority for Liebman and organizations like his. Experts say between 20 and 25 percent of Americans suffer from some kind of mental illness, but only a fraction get help. They attribute that to shame.
Liebman said the legislative path might be more difficult, as it would require a bill to pass the Assembly and Senate and get Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature. But it is "another bite at the apple," a ray of hope for advocates who mounted one last push Tuesday afternoon, urging supporters to reach out to Cuomo, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate majority leader Dean Skelos.
"I don't necessarily look at it as a setback," Liebman said. "What we did is we raised awareness about tenfold on this issue."
Tax check-offs first showed up on New York state income tax forms in 1982. In the years since, the programs have funneled more than $51 million to causes from the World Trade Center memorial to an Alzheimer's fund to support for the facilities built for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
As it stands, there are 10 items on the tax check-off menu. If mental health advocates get their way, an 11th item would be added, "Gift for Eliminating the Stigma Relating to Mental Illness." Funds collected through the program would be placed in the custody of the state tax commissioner and comptroller and be made available to the state Office of Mental Health. From there, the Office of Mental Health would provide grants.
Liebman said this year feels different from past years' attempts, as more people are discussing mental health and the stigma around it.
"There's this tangible sense that this is the time," he said. "We see a window here and we want to do our best for the fight to end stigma and discrimination. This is the time."
 http://www.lohud.com/story/news/health/2015/04/04/mental-health-tax-check-supporters-hope-pass-bill/25291029/
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