Yesterday, we heard that our sector ended up with a 2.6% Inflation Adjustment (formerly the COLA), up from the 2.1% added by the Governor (a total of .5%). Later today and tomorrow, budget bills will be out….We were advocating for 7.8% and we expected to at least make the 2.9% Consumer Price Index. With the billions of dollars spent on various initiatives in this year’s budget, it is an anathema to us that our sector received only fifty million dollars for this increase especially since we all acknowledge that we are in a mental health crisis.
This was particularly ironic that this year crisis services in mental health took center stage. No one asked the question of who are you getting to run hospital discharge programs, SOS Teams, ACT teams, peer services, housing programs or community services? A 2.6% increase will not attract people to our field. The same frustration we have shared for many years will go unchanged with this small increase. We need big ideas like MHANYS Ten Point Plan which addresses so many of the issues brought up in the budget with inflation adjustment as our top priority, otherwise we will continue spinning our wheels.
We are appreciative of the Executive and the Legislators that were supportive. Over the last seven weeks of our rallies, we have gotten to know some of them and they truly felt terrible about what happened. Even yesterday, Speaker Heastie said at his press conference that there are tough decisions that have to be made and he looked back at us acknowledging that we did not get what we wanted for our providers and workforce.
Was our 7 week rally successful?
I would say that it was unequivocally successful. Less than two weeks ago, we got word that the legislature had no money left and that we would have to settle for the Governor’s original 2.1 increase with no additional resources. We were able to get the .5 increase ($50 million dollars) and the respect of Speaker Heastie and several other legislators in recognizing the importance of this funding. This will serve us well in future negotiations (though it does sting this year).
I would like to thank those agencies that were by our side over this seven week period—-MHANYS, Northern Rivers, Alliance for Rights and Recovery, Association for Community Living and NAMI-NYS were there virtually every day. We also received support from InUnity, Families Together, Human Services Council, COFCCA and the ARC of Warren/Washington and Albany County as well as the other members of our combined advocacy groups. Also thanks to all of you that called, sent letters, met with legislators and further spread the word of our work.
We will be covering lots of budget items over the next several days but wanted to let you know about the Investment Number. We will be back stronger than ever.
Glenn Liebman
He/Him/His
Chief Executive Officer
Mental Health Association in New York State
(518) 434-0439 | MHANYS.org
