Friends -

Almost everything that gets done in Albany each year happens during budget season — and right now, we are in budget season.

Do you remember when you were in grade school and you learned how a bill becomes a law? That the budget starts in the House, it passes the Senate, and then eventually the president signs or vetoes it?

That’s not how it happens in New York.

In New York, the governor proposes the budget and the legislature can only strike items out. And if we do add any items, the governor has the power to veto those additions individually, leaving the things he or she likes intact.

That is how Andrew Cuomo shoved a provision into page 347 of last year’s budget shielding nursing home operators from liability for their failures to protect their residents from COVID.

And it is how Andrew Cuomo and a small group of insiders have created budgets that reward the rich and powerful and leave our most vulnerable communities behind.

Here are my priorities for this year’s budget:

1. I am fighting to fully fund Medicaid after Governor Cuomo squeezed it in last year’s budget.
2. I am fighting for $750 million in funding for public housing and more for rental assistance.
3. And I am fighting to pass the Invest in Our New York package which will raise revenues by taxing some of the wealthiest New Yorkers in order to fund these programs and others.

The budget process is fundamentally broken. The legislature should be a co-equal branch of government in this process, and that is especially true when we have a governor in office who has historically been an untrustworthy partner.

I’ll have a lot more on this year’s budget soon, but I wanted to give you a heads up on what to expect from the process and what my priorities are as the debate unfolds.

Stay safe,

Alessandra Biaggi

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Sign Alessandra’s petition if you agree this year’s budget should prioritize fully funding Medicaid, increasing housing and rental assistance, and taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay for it.

Sign AB’s petition — make your voice heard.

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