For Immediate Release
Contact: Leanne Ricchiuti, Overit for Association for Community Living, 518.222.8073
March 15, 2023
STATEMENT
Association For Community Living Executive Director’s Statement on One House Bill Process
ACL Applauds the Legislature for including an 8.5% COLA in Both One- House Bills
(Albany, N.Y.) – The Association for Community Living (ACL) Executive Director, Sebrina Barrett, has the following statement following the Legislature’s progress with the One-House Bills, in preparation for the Enacted Budget:
“We are so thankful to the legislature for the inclusion of the 8.5% Human Services COLA in each of the one house bills, released yesterday. Our members spoke up, and you listened––and we see that in the proposals. We’re so thankful to the Mental Health Committee Chairs, Senator Samra Brouk and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, for their continued support. We trust that the Governor will see this demonstrated support and agree the full 8.5% COLA should be included in the Enacted Budget.
We would also like to express gratitude to the Assembly for the inclusion of the Aging in Place Task Force in its proposal, and we urge the Senate to do likewise during the negotiation process, so that it can be passed as part of the final budget. This would address the concern the Governor raised in her veto message of the bill following passage of the legislation last year. We cannot wait any longer to develop solutions that would allow our residents to age in their homes, as we continue to see more and more residents getting older and experiencing significant medical challenges. These individuals will see better physical health outcomes along their mental health recovery journey if they are able to remain where they are, among the community. There is nowhere else for our residents to get the care they need, as nursing homes will not admit those with mental illness, and are not able to meet both the mental health and medical challenges they are facing.
We look forward to the passage of the Enacted Budget.”
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