Press Release
The Governor’s 2021 State of the State
The challenges facing low-income New Yorkers as they deal with the blows of the COVID-19 health crisis, resulting economic recession, and long-standing systemic issues of racial inequity are enormous. Upon hearing Governor Cuomo’s 2021 priorities, here are some ways his vision for a just and inclusive recovery for New York can be realized.
On health, we commend the governor’s proposal to eliminate premiums for low-income consumers enrolled in the Essential Plan and the proposal to incentivize telehealth. To ensure all New Yorkers can fully participate in telehealth, we urge the governor to address telehealth access barriers, including potentially onerous out-of-pocket costs (e.g. co-pays), very uneven access to broadband internet across the state, and language inclusivity. Finally, we urge the governor to address healthcare affordability by adopting the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act to improve the medical billing process and protect low-income patients from aggressive collection activities.
As New York’s housing crisis deepens, we are optimistic about the governor’s efforts to convert commercial buildings into housing. We urge him to ensure such an effort prioritizes affordable and supportive housing production as a key principle, in line with our calls for adequate funding for NYCHA. It is time we recognized housing as a human right, and adopt housing policies that promote racial and economic integration. Social housing conversions and providing the scale of rental assistance required to keep all New Yorkers in their homes are consistent with that vision.
In his remarks the governor rightfully underscored the federal government’s important responsibility in providing support to states. But New York must also play a significant role in meeting the needs of New Yorkers and should prioritize efforts to raise revenues regardless of Washington’s decisions, including tax reforms. The projected state budget deficit threatens the livelihoods of New Yorkers by not allowing for the full funding of public programs that serve as lifelines for their survival. To that end, we urge the governor to provide financial support to those who have not received a dime of government relief during this pandemic, including excluded workers on the frontlines.
Finally, we applaud Governor Cuomo’s efforts to create a more inclusive workforce by expanding training and employment opportunities, including the $5 million for NYS Workforce Scholarships to allow low-income New Yorkers to attend no-cost, high-quality training programs that can lead to better jobs. We also applaud his proposal to require affordable high-speed internet for all low-income families. This move will help bridge the digital divide by improving remote learning access and closing the digital skills gap that prevent low-income New Yorkers from climbing up the economic ladder.
We’ve closed the chapter on a turbulent year for New Yorkers. As we start 2021, with new leadership in Washington and a governor and state legislature ready to tackle the enormous challenges before us, we are optimistic that our leaders are committed to providing help, support and relief to those in need.