04/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/29/2024 10:54
ALBANY, NY -The New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) released the following statement in response to New York State's enacted budget for Fiscal Year 2025:
"NYLAG's work providing direct legal services vitally informs our policy advocacy, both to immediately benefit the communities we serve and in the longer term, to forge systemic changes that move our institutions towards racial, social, and economic equity.
"In reviewing New York State's enacted budget, we are pleased to see a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)to the Judiciary Legal Services (JLS) appropriation as well as the Interest on Lawyers' Account (IOLA) Fund. We and our fellow legal service providers need these enhancements to pay our staff living wages for the critical work they do with New Yorkers experiencing poverty or a legal crisis.
"Additionally, we commend the State for:
"At the same time, we strongly condemn that this budget moves $55 million from IOLA to fund HOPP and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). As a legal services organization working with people experiencing poverty to ensure access to justice, we understand the need for HOPP, ERAP, and other vital programs our communities rely on for any chance at equity; however, we cannot overstate the equal importance of these very communities having meaningful access to the free civil legal services IOLA supports across New York - communities that, due to institutional racial, economic, and social injustices, bear the brunt of policy failures and don't often see justice for the ramifications without legal advocates. Importantly, these communities rely on access to our services - again, supported by IOLA - to take cases enforcing HOPP and ERAP in the first place.
"IOLA intentionally serves a broader range of legal needs than any one program alone, and its funding - explicitly designated for civil legal services for low-income New Yorkers - comes from non-taxpayer money. As such, IOLA was never the Governor's funding to move, and we urge the State not to make this sweep a habit, as it would not only jeopardize the existence of the fund itself, but result in disaster for the communities we serve.
"In addition to the IOLA sweep, we are disappointed to see cuts and/or omissions in the following areas:
"We look forward to continuing our advocacy on behalf of the communities we serve and working with our partners in government to tackle the racial, social, and economic injustices inherent in our institutions that in part make our work necessary."
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Melissa Chua, Co-Director of NYLAG's Immigrant Protection Unit, testified before the New York City Council's Committee on Immigration regarding the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, the Preliminary Capital Plan for Fiscal Years 2024-2028, and the Fiscal 2024 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report.
On Monday, March 4, 2024, NYLAG's President & CEO Lisa Rivera testified before the New York City Council Committee on Finance's hearing on the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2025.