[NYAPRS Enews] ACT TODAY: Tell Lawmakers We Need The 8.5% COLA

[Luke Sikinyi]

NYAPRS: We only have three more days to secure an absolutely necessary 8.5% Cost-of-Living-Adjustment for Behavioral Health Services and the Workforce! The legislature and Governor agreed to a three-day extender late yesterday. The two sides have also reportedly reached an agreement on bail and are moving forward with other negotiations. We must make sure the lawmakers hear our cries for 8.5%. These services and workers are essential to the lives and recovery of New Yorkers dealing with mental health and substance use challenges. We need you to email your lawmakers to demand that the 8.5% COLA is included in this year's final budget. Use this link<https://mhanys.org/contact-legislator/> to email your legislators every day until the budget is passed!

A Short Extender
By Joseph Spector and Eleonora Francica | Politico | April 17, 2023

Gov. Kathy Hochul offered another budget extender Monday to keep the state government operating. But this one came with a bit of a twist.

Instead of a one-week extender, it will go only to Thursday - serving as either a sign of progress toward a budget deal or, more likely, an effort to keep lawmakers in town through the week.

After the last extender a week ago, legislators were quick to get on the state Thruway to head home. This time, they might have to pass another extender Thursday so state employees can get paid and services can continue to operate.

"It keeps us on our toes, and hopefully it'll have some help toward a final solution," Albany-area Sen. Neil Breslin said about the short extender that the Legislature will pass Tuesday.

Either way, until a deal is brokered, the 213 lawmakers will continue to not get paid a portion of their $142,000 salary - which is the highest among state legislators in the nation.

Officials familiar with the negotiations - which included a leaders meeting over the weekend - didn't offer much hope Monday of an agreement this week, saying many issues remain unresolved, such as how to build new housing, whether to expand charter schools in New York City and how to fund shortfalls at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

POLITICO reported earlier this month that the sides were in agreement on changes in line with Hochul's proposal to toughen the state's controversial bail law. And City & State on Monday indicated that one of the pieces is to remove the least restrictive standard that judges can use to set bail, but to also make clear that bail should be used only as a way to ensure a defendant's return to court - a key plank for progressive Democrats.

But not everyone is satisfied with the looming bail deal.

Advocates and some Democratic lawmakers earlier Monday held a rally on the Million Dollar Staircase to rail against removing the least restrictive standard.

"It's unconscionable to make any changes to the law when jail populations across the state have substantially increased and deaths in jail have become more frequent," Sen. Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) said.

A short extender - POLITICO<https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook-pm/2023/04/17/a-short-extender-00092414>

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