Alliance Capital Update
I have spent the last few days at the capital advocating for our priorities and getting updates about the budget negotiations. We have learned the budget negotiations will be wrapping up soon, with the final budget expected to pass in the coming days.
While many of our priorities are still to be determined, we have learned negotiations for the COLA are finished. The Alliance for Rights and Recovery and the Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS) have released the following statement in response to the COLA proposal the Legislature has agreed to:
Joint Statement from MHANYS and Alliance for Rights and Recovery
Well after several machinations, the State Budget appears that it will pass over the next several days. While we have been focused on several issues (including Daniel’s Law pilots and additional Peer Bridger programs), the COLA remains our top priority.
Thank you so much for your advocacy, it has played a key role in the success of the work.
What we know is that there are two separate COLAs.
The Governor has included a 1.5 percent across the board increase for the Human Services Sector. This 1.5% provides the flexibility to be utilized for increases in wages but also supports other parts of agency budgets including health care costs and administrative costs.
The Legislature has included a 1.7 percent increase for the COLA. This funding will be inclusive of all staff outside of a few categories including CEOs, CFO’s, Assistant Executive Director, Director of Division Responsible for overseeing major functions for an agency as well as several Local Government Unit positions.
This was a significant change from where we were earlier in the week when only a small proportion of staff would be eligible for the COLA. While it is not the whole pie (frankly a straight COLA would have been), this is much better than originally targeted.
I know that we continue to struggle in our sector for our workforce (over 34% less funding in our sector due to lost COLAs over the last 18 years) and we need a lot more additional funding to make ourselves whole, but we have at least made a dent through the Legislature and Executive and will continue to do so in the future.
It speaks to your collective advocacy with one voice from across all our sectors.
Glenn Liebman, CEO of MHANYS, will be speaking about the COLA tonight on Capitol Tonight
