SearchNYS Budget Central 2012-2013
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On March 30, 2012, the Legislature approved a $132.6 billion budget for the 2013 fiscal year. See the sections below for the Legal Action Center's advocacy on the budget and background news leading up to its passage.
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Criminal Justice: Highlights
In its leadership role in the NY ATI/Reentry Coalition, LAC urges the Legislature to:
- Maintain funding for alternative to incarceration and reentry programs during the fourth quarter of FY 2013 when federal stimulus (ARRA) money ends.
- Establish and institutionalize new state funding stream(s) for ATI and reentry programs to replace ARRA money, for the long term.
- Add $5 million to encourage innovation and expand services for emerging and underserved client and community needs.
- Support the governor's proposal to reform the juvenile justice system by closing State facilities and providing placements and services to youth in New York City.
- Support the governor's proposal to enroll in Medicaid all eligible individuals incarcerated in New York State facilities.
Alcohol and Drug Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery: Highlights
We join our partners at the NY Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, in asking the Legislature to:
- Implement the recommendations of the Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission to ensure that NY's infrastructure includes a strong state agency with addiction specialty care expertise headed by leadership with extensive knowledge and experience in the delivery of a comprehensive continuum of services.
- Engage public/private collaboration to purchase health insurance and other personnel benefits at more affordable prices. Not withstanding the cap on the use of state funds for executive compensation, ASAP recommends that overall compensation should be consistent with the health and human services market place.
- Strengthen community detoxification services by directing OASAS/DOH to establish community detox rates adequate to fully compensate community-based programs and clinics for services rendered.
- Reinvest savings from the closure of state-run facilities in community-based prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
- Provide access to funds for substance use disorder service providers to purchase needed electronic health record, billing, and data management programs and other technology needs.
- Adopt an alcohol harm surcharge -- levied against businesses found to be in violation of laws or regulations governing the responsible distribution, serving, or other transactions involving alcohol -- to fund problem drinking prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
HIV/AIDS: Highlights
LAC supports the recommendations of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council asking the Legislature to renew its commitment to preserving the public health of New Yorkers and reducing health disparities by re-energizing New York's fight against HIV/AIDS. The council's 2012-2013 recommendations include:
- Safeguard and support the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
- Address the burgeoning heroin and opiate crisis through evidence-based prevention programs, including syringe exchange, opioid overdose prevention and sexual risk reduction among young people.
- Support additional resources for Hepatitis C testing, treatment & prevention.
- Support full implementation of New York's HIV testing law and expand access to HIV testing in a wider variety of settings.
- Properly fund NYS Department of Health oversight of HIV/Hepatitis C care in correctional facilities as required by statute.
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Budget Is Passed:
- Juvenile facilities could face closure (Democrat and Chronicle, March 31)
- Cuomo’s $132.6 Billion Budget Approved by New York Lawmakers (Bloomberg Businessweek, March 30)
- New York State’s 2012 Budget Sails Through Albany (The New York Times, March 30) Background:
- Budget deal could close upstate youth prisons, keep NYC kids in city (The Journal News , March 29)
- LAC Applauds NY Budget Deal That Increases ATI/Reentry Funds, Preserves HIV and OASAS Funds, March 28
- Cuomo Praises Budget Deal; Says He’ll Go It Alone On Health Exchanges (Politics on the Hudson, March 27)
- Governor Cuomo, Majority Leader Skelos, and Speaker Silver Announce Agreement on 2012-2013 Budget (Governor's Office, March 27)
- State Leaders Release Modified Budgets (The Post-Journal, March 14)
- Joint Budget Conference Committees Announced(NY Assembly, March 13)
- LAC Testifies in Albany on Criminal Justice Budget, Jan. 30
- Silver, Farrell Announce the Release of the Assembly Analysis Of the Governor's Budget Proposal (NY Assembly, Jan. 23)
- Senate passes expansion of DNA database (Politics on the Hudson, Jan. 31)
- New Yorkers Pay More For Prisons Than Corrections Budget Discloses (WNYC News, Jan. 29)
- In Albany, Bloomberg Declares His Support for Cuomo's Budget (PolitickerNY, Jan. 24)
- Support for expanding criminal DNA database (Legislative Gazette, Jan. 23)
- Analyzing Governor's Budget, LAC Finds Much to Praise, Jan. 18
- Bloomberg and Quinn on Cuomo's Budget (Gotham Gazette, Jan. 17)
- Education, new pension package likely to be most contentious (Albany Times Union, Jan. 17)
- Andrew Cuomo's budget would cut state spending, boost aid to schools (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Jan. 17)
- Cuomo's Budget Links Teacher Evaluations, Spending (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 17)
- Legislature Announces Joint Budget Hearing Schedule (NYS Legislature, Jan. 11)
- March 21: NY Action Alert: Show Support for Judge Discretion in Probation Sentencing
- Feb. 14: Along with our partners in the NY ATI/Reentry Coalition, LAC led a trip to Albany for the coalition's annual advocacy day. The coalition had a number of productive meetings with legislators and staff on both sides of the aisle, laying out concerns on funding for critical programs and our positions on criminal justice legislation included in the budget.
- Legislature's Joint Budget Hearing Schedule
- Assembly's Statistical and Narrative Summary of the Executive Budget
- The New York Times' NYS budget news
Budget Advocacy in Previous Years:
2011-2012
2010-2011