On February 15th and 16th the MH/MR advisory council met with our respective agencies to discuss the future, budget and our commitment to work together. 

The first part of our meeting was presented by Fran Turner, CSEA political action director, discussing the major issues for our agencies, MEDICAID, and our communities. the important factor is getting our next door neighbor to our community as well as the politicians as to what we do on a daily basis at our worksites as well as in our towns, villages, cities etc. to let them all know what our job titles are; direct care, bus drivers, family providers, food service workers, clerks etc. to get the point across that we are not just public employees we are people with important titles that work like anyone else, pay  house taxes, school taxes just like anyone else. We also raise money for a variety of organizations to help projects within our communities. We have a lot of work ahead of us as this budget is going to effect all of us and not in a good way. We need to reach out to our members and have them assist us in reaching our goals. Please read all the articles that are posted on this site.

During our town hall meetings with our agencies, we were told (what they could tell us) some of the steps that might happen if the Governor didn’t get what he has proposed in his budget. The words layoffs, closures, consolidation and reconfiguring were used with both agencies and for the most part, were upsetting to everyone in the room. We are all in for a very rough couple of years and must all work together.

The locals had a reception with some staff from CSEA present to just go over the meetings and discuss with each other what we think the next steps should be.  a special thanks to Fran, Ross, Mary, Fred, Adam, Josh, Jeff and Denise for assisting us during these times. A special thank you to our statewide ex. Vice President Mary Sullivan and to our statewide Treasure Joe McMullen for attending and also giving us support.

Budget Update

There is some very disturbing parts of this budget that everyone needs to be aware of that have come to light as a result of a review of some of the appropriation bills submitted by the Governor in his budget.

First and foremost, any language in an appropriation bill submitted by the Governor cannot be changed by the legislature. The legislature only has the power to strike an appropriation, to reduce the dollar amount of a proposed appropriation leaving intact the accompanying language that describes when how and where the money will be spent, or approve an appropriation in its entirety. If in fact the Legislature tried to increase an appropriation it is subject to a line item veto. If the Legislature tried to strike language or add new language it would be deemed an illegal substitution that has no force or effect and the original language would be deemed in effect. If the legislature and the Governor AGREED to increase an appropriation or a language change then the Governor would have to send up a new bill with the changes. It can only come from the Governor.

Having said this we have found language in the appropriation bill for state ops that would do the following:

OMH,OPWDD language in the appropriation bill allows the Commissioner to transfer, consolidate, close, reduce, right size, reconfigure or otherwise redesign services of hospitals, facilities, and programs operated by OMH, and to implement significant service reductions as the Commissioner shall deem fit! The language does away with the 12 month notice permanently and provides for notice to the legislature and the public via website as soon as possible but no later than two weeks before an anticipated closure, consolidation or transfer. Basically all legislative authority or oversight is gone and the Commissioner has sole decision making power. In addition, the mental health reinvestment policy will not apply. That means that money saved as a result of a closure or downsizing will NOT be reinvested in community services. It will go into the state general fund for use elsewhere.

OCFS Again all decisions to close, consolidate, transfer, or downsize rest with the Commissioner and 12 month notice is eliminated permanently. Language in the appropriation bill provides that youth at risk will go to community services close to their homes. Specifically states only "high risk" youth may be placed in a facility.

The procedure for corrections is somewhat different. The Governor will create a task force to determine which facilities will close, merge or consolidate with the goal of reducing prison beds by 3500. If the task force does not come up with recommendations in a timely fashion then the Commissioner of corrections will make the decisions himself. The 12 month notice provision is eliminated.

Further updates will be provided as we get through the article 7 bills.

Morning meeting - Febaury 15, 2011

Afternoon meeting - Febaury 15, 2011

Questions for OPWDD Town Hall Meeting:

1. Where would the 227 million dollars in cuts called for in the Governor's budget come from?
   
   
2. Do you anticipate that OMH and OPWDD will be merged into a single Department of Mental Hygiene?
   
   
3. Do you anticipate changes in the role of not for profits as service providers?
   
   
4. Are current state run programs at risk for turn keying?
   
   
5. Are there any anticipated DDSO closures or consolidations being looked at in OPWDD?
   
   
6. How will Medicaid cutbacks hurt OPWDD?
   
   
7. What did it mean in the budget when it said funding for workshop, day training and other days services will be reduced to encourage placement into other more effective community-based integrated day programs?
   
   
8. Describe the type of lower-cost residential and/or non-residential opportunities that will be available as a result of delaying OPWDD community residential development opportunities for adults and children?
   
   
9. How is the Agency addressing current retirement attrition and staffing deficits?
   
   
10. At many facilities there is still a large amount of overtime generated. How can the Agency address this overtime issue so as not to lesson the impact on the budget?
    
    
11. In some facilities there are many per diems, temporaries and part timers. Why use them while there are unfilled full time vacant positions?
    
    
12. Administrative Leave continues to be a problem through out OPWDD. This has a major impact on overtime and staff morale. What is OPWDD doing to address this issue?
    

Reception - Febaury 15, 2011

Morning meeting - Febaury 16, 2011

Questions for OMH Town Hall Meeting:

1. Where would the 227 million dollars in cuts called for in the Governor's budget come from?
   
   
2. What is happening with plans for opening more Transitional Placement Programs?
   
   
3. Are there any further changes in reductions of the inpatient census?
   
   
4. How will this balance out with the outpatient census and services?
   
   
5. Do you anticipate changes in the role of not for profits as service providers?
   
   
6. Are there any anticipated facility closures or consolidations being looked at in OMH?
   
   
7. How will Medicaid cutbacks hurt OMH?
   
   
8. How is the Agency addressing current retirement attrition and staffing deficits?
   
   
9. At many facilities there is still a large amount of overtime generated. How can the Agency address this overtime issue so as not to lesson the impact on the budget?
   
   
10. In some facilities there are many per diems, temporaries and part timers. Why use them while there are unfilled full time vacant positions?
    

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    A Better New York For All

    Fair for all, Help for all, and Sacrifice from all

    The Path to Awareness and Action

    Message from Danny Donohue

    So public employees are now the new public enemy?

    Welcome to the twisted world of 2011.

    Since when did it become a crime to dedicate your life to public service, doing jobs that keep New York's economy going or dealing with people and problems that most people would prefer to pretend don't exist?

    Why is it a bad thing that you and other public employees work hard to earn and then spend paychecks in local communities, supporting local businesses and making those communities better places to live along with helping charitable organizations?

    Why should you be ashamed of who you are and what you do? Why should you have to apologize for trying to make a decent living, take care of your family, pay your bills, and have some pension security?

    You actually have two options: surrender or fight back. That's why we have put these materials together so you can have the information you need to fight back.

    Share this information about the Governor's drastic budget cuts with your family, friends and neighbors.

    Reach out to your elected officials and remind them that we are real people with real jobs who make a real difference in our communities.

    ---

    Circular's

    Executive Budget Alerts

Budget Summary

2011 - 2012 Executive Budget Proposal

The following is a brief overview of the 2011-12 Executive Budget Proposal. We are continuing to review the budget for impacts that it may have upon CSEA members and will update you as the process continues.

Budget Overview

• Total budget is $132.9 billion, which is down 2.7% from last year

• Cuts $8.9 billion

• Closes the deficit without borrowing or increasing taxes State Workforce

• Cuts spending for state operations by 10%

• Governor Cuomo calls for $450 million in state employee savings or else he will lay off 9,800 state employees

State Operations

• Governor Cuomo has created the Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission to make recommendations to reduce the number of state agencies, authorities and Commissions by 20 percent over the long term.

• The budget calls for the merging of the Department of Correctional Services and the Division of Parole into a new department named the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

• Merges the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Office of Victim Services, and the State Commission on Corrections into the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).

• Merges the Banking Department, Department of Insurance and State Consumer Protection Board into the new Department of Financial Regulation.

• Moves the Foundation for Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR) into Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC).

Office of Mental Health

• Defers the planned 1.2% annual human services COLA for one year.

• Eliminates the 12 month closure notification law.

• Gives the Commissioner sole discretion to transfer, consolidate, close, reduce, rightsize, reconfigure or otherwise redesign services of hospitals, facilities, and programs operated by OMH, and to implement significant service reductions as the Commissioner deems fit.

• The mental health reinvestment policy will not apply which means that the money saved as a result of a closure or downsizing will NOT be reinvested in community services. It will go into the state general fund for use elsewhere.

Health Care

• The proposed budget cuts Medicaid by $2.9 billion, which is actually over $5 billion when federal matching funds are taken into account.

• Specific cuts are not yet named. The Medicaid Redesign Team, created by the Governor, is charged with finding how to cut this amount from the budget. Details will emerge by March 1.

• Cuts the state subsidy to Roswell Park by $7.8 million.

Local Government

• Reduces Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) by 2% for cities, towns and villages outside New York City.

• Eliminates AIM for New York City.

• Provides $79 million to encourage and reward local governments that consolidate, dissolve, or achieve efficiencies and performance improvements.

• Governor Cuomo created the Mandate Relief Redesign Team to review local government mandates imposed by state government on school districts, local governments and other local taxing districts. The team will report to the Governor by March 1,2011.

• The budget eliminates aid for communities that host Video Lottery Terminals (VLT), except that Yonkers will keep its funding.

Education

• Cuts K-12 funding by $ 1.5 billion.

• Freezes funding for Foundation Aid and Universal Pre-Kindergarten at 2010-11 levels.

• Creates a competitive grant program for school districts that show improvements in student performance as well as for school districts that reduce costs and improve efficiency.

• Allows school districts to withdraw excess funds in employee benefits accrued liability reserve funds.

• Cuts library aid by 10%.

State University of New York

• Cuts SUNY by $ 100 million.

• Enables SUNY to streamline their procurement process, providing SUNY with greater flexibility to engage in public-private partnerships.

• Reduces SUNY community college funding by $226 per student.

• Eliminates the state's $140 million subsidies for the three SUNY teaching hospitals (Brooklyn, Stony Brook, and Syracuse).

VOICE

• Pursuant to the VOICE agreement with the state, the budget includes $5 million for quality improvement grants for home-based child care providers, $500,000 for professional development for VOICE members, and $6.8 million for the cost of purchasing health insurance under the family health plus buy-in.

• The budget would require child care providers to pay a $60 fee for the state to conduct a search in the statewide central register for child abuse or maltreatment. Child care providers have previously been exempt from this fee.

OTHER

• The budget does not extend the tax on wealthy New Yorkers that expires at the end of 2011.

What can YOU do to help?

1. Write Letters to the Editor

Believe it or not elected officials and their staff comb the papers' letters to the editor on a daily basis to catch the mood of the community.

A letter to the editor should come right after an article that appears in the paper, the next day or the same day is when it should be submitted.

The letter to the editor should reference the article written - newspapers like to cross promote their own work.

The letter should get to the point quickly.

The letter should reference a personal connection that calls attention to the entire community. For example, "my aunt received excellent care at the public nursing home."

Newspapers usually require 30 days in between submission, so make sure you have different people on the "letter team."

Newspapers are also more likely to publish your letter if you only send the letter to one newspaper. If you send it to all the newspapers they will not publish it unless you have a lot of credentials on the subject.

2. Posting comments on political and news blogs

More and more people are getting their news from the Internet.

Political blogs are an important source of news for politicians, their staff, and activists.

It is very important that we monitor the blogs and post comments favorable to CSEA and our members.

Examples of some actual blog posts:

• Layoffs won't solve anything. No matter how many people you lay off, our taxes aren't going to go down and we'll get fewer services for the taxes we now pay.

• For those who think layoffs are a good idea, I hope you will never be faced with losing your job, wondering how to pay your bills and feed your kids.

• When you talk about layoffs, you have to remember, that every time you talk about a layoff you're not just talking about a person's job, you're talking about a person's family, you're talking about a person's life, so this is a very difficult situation all around.

• Property tax caps and state spending freezes don't resolve $10 billion shortfalls in revenues.

New York is going to have 2 classes. The rich and the poor and we have been heading there for a while.

3. Write a letter to the governer. Below is a sample letter.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo
State Capitol Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Cuomo:

Let's pass a budget that reflects what we are proud of as New Yorkers. As a CSEA member

I am proud of the work I do as a_________________________. My job matters because________________________________.

I work hard, pay taxes, and contribute to my community and local economy. Why is it more mportant to cut taxes for the wealthy then to keep people like me working and providing value d my community?

There are better ways to solve the budget crisis then throwing money out the window by cutting taxes for our wealthiest 3%. It takes political courage to protect our schools, our elderly, our ick, and our disabled. It is the choice, however, that will make us proud to call ourselves New Workers.

Sincerely,

4. Call your Senator. Below is a sample phone script.
You can find your elected officials information HERE.

Hello, my name is _______________ and I am calling regarding the Governor's proposed budget.

I am a _____________ and I _____________________ to my community. .. My job matters.

I am calling to ask my Senator to have the courage to make a better New York and make choices we can be proud of. Instead of throwing $5 billion out the window to give the wealthiest 3% a tax cut we should keep people working in our communities.

Please tell Senator_______________________ that a balanced approach to solving this budget crisis is needed, one that includes both sacrifice from all, fairness for all and one that includes revenues.

Protecting our disabled, our elderly, our schools and making our communities stronger are choices we can all be proud of.

Thank you.