On Friday, the NYS Division of the Budget released their mid-year report and as expected it is devastating to New York with a revenue decline of almost $15 billion. The State has saved over $4 billion between withholds and hiring freezes over the first half of the year which is significant but not enough to make up for the shortfall.
This is the sad reality of what we are all dealing with and unfortunately mental health is not immune as we know from the 20% withholds to county contracts. Behavioral health advocates continue to hammer on the need to have a moratorium on cuts to our sector given the behavioral health impact of COVID through increases in anxiety, depression, grief, overdose deaths and much more.
All eyes are on tomorrow’s Presidential election and Congressional races as Governor Cuomo has said that he was going to wait till after the election to determine the advocacy strategy for New York with any kind of federal stimulus package. It is clear that whatever the election outcome, we will need a robust package that reflects New York’s financial needs as it relates to behavioral health.
