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Dear Members and Friends, This policy alert and update covers a few topics of interest: 1) DHCR contractual updates, 2) Housing Budget Hearings, and 3) Legislative Awareness Day, and 4) Legislative Hearings on Green Rehab/Retrofitting. NOTE TO Preservation Companies: The final date to submit your Work Plan modifications is March 31. Please take a few moments to review your work plan and determine if you are on track to complete 80% of the work plan. Any program between 60-80% completion risks being placed on probation by DHCR. The Coalition is available to provide technical assistance on work plan modifications. Please reach out to us. On Feb. 3, 2010, The Joint Budget Committees heard testimony from a number of people regarding the Housing Budget. You can view the hearings here: Joint Budget Hearing Video. It was clear that there is broad support for the NP/RPC’s however, it is unclear as to whether we are a sufficient priority for the respective finance committee’s to give us our ask: $15m for the NPC’s and $7.5m for the RPC’s. Thanks to all who sent letters to the Governor’s office and who sent us copies. As the Coalition meets with members of the Senate & Assembly, and their staff, we will provide them with copies of those letters. We still need to generate more attention. So we ask you to continue in our campaign to receive adequate funding: Write to the Governor. It is critical for the Governor to hear from his constituents. Write to Gov. Paterson IMMEDIATELY to tell him to use the power of his 30-day amendment process and restore funding to the N/RPP, programs that are a vital service delivery network for the provision of affordable housing services for this state’s most needy population. Send your letter to: Gov. David Paterson It would helpful if you could cc a copy to me here at the Coalition so that I can keep track of the requests sent to the Governor. Many thanks to all of you who have already sent in your letters. Participate in the Legislative Budget Hearing’s. While the Albany Joint Budget Hearing has passed, the Senate Hudson Valley Delegation are planning to hold a Budget Hearing in Rockland and Westchester to hear more from the community stakeholders. They are probably going to hold these in March. As soon as we hear more on dates and locations, we will inform you. In the meanwhile, inform the members of the Joint Budget Committee about the need to adequately fund the NP/RPC’s. Send a copy of the letter you sent the Governor to Senator Carl Kruger and Assemblymember Herman Farrell Inform your Legislator in the Assembly and Senate about the budget impact. Please call. Your calls are important. They need to know that their constituents care about this issue and are making the effort to reach out to them. Make sure that your local State Senator and Assemblymember is informed on the impact the proposed budget will have on your program and the community you serve. It is imperative that the Legislature hear our all of our voices, strong and unified in message, as it they will decide on any restorations during the budget negotiations. A) Call the Legislator’s Albany office to let them know your program requires full funding to be able to sustain your services. Assemblymembers http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/ Senators http://www.nysenate.gov/ B) Meet with your local State Senator and Assemblymember in the home district office during the non-Session days. Educate them further about your program, the services you provide, and the impact the proposed budget will have on being able to continue providing those services. Invite them to your program and offer a tour. 3. Schedule a meeting with your local State Senator and Assemblymember for the afternoon of February 23, your Legislative Action Day in Albany. Your participation in Legislative Action Day is crucial. We need to demonstrate a large, strong presence in Albany on the 23rd to get our message of necessity across. Let’s join our voices, unite our strengths and demonstrate that we are an important voice for the Legislators to listen to. We need to make sure that we cover all bases, so we ask that you reply to this email letting me know who you have made appointments with for the 23rd. Also, please make sure to fill out the survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9GX2FT9 to let us know who many people to expect. Please let us know if you have any difficulties in setting up your appointments. 4. Assembly Hearing on Affordably Green Initiatives The New York State Assembly Committees on Housing and Environmental Conservation are holding a hearing to discuss the viability of developing affordable green housing on Feb. 11 at Noon in NYC. The Coalition will be testifying and highlighting the green work done by preservation companies. If you are an NPC or RPC testifying at the hearing, please let Christine Hmiel know so that we can coordinate our testimonies. c.hmiel@npcnys.org or 518 432 6757 ext 22. For more information on the Hearings visit http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/Housing/20100204/ Thank you for all that you do, Jessica Jessica F. Vasquez, Esq., Executive Director (518) 432-6757 |
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40 Colvin Ave. Albany, NY 12206 518.432.6757 FAX 518.432.6758 |
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