New Report: “Unequal Budget: The Impact of 2011-12 State Budget Proposals on New York Communities of Color”
Albany, NY – Grassroots organizations released a report today assailing the state’s intention to slash school aid, jobs programs and safety net services.
The full report can be downloaded here: https://citizenactionny.org/unequalbudget
Among the report’s major findings:
- Thirty high-need school districts – which average 71 percent Black and Latino enrollment – face cuts of $773 per pupil, compared to cuts of $333 per pupil in low-need districts with a Black and Latino student body of less than 3 percent.
- The elimination of funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program – which creates jobs for low-income teenagers – would worsen the already dismal 24.6 percent unemployment rate among young black men.
- Over $50 million in state support for homeless services would primarily impact families of color: In New York City 53 percent of shelter residents are Black and 32 percent are Latino.
“Deep cuts to public health care programs and services will increase the pain, literally for many people of color in New York” said Jessica Wisneski, Legislative Director of Citizen Action of New York. “But the symbolism of a cut of all dedicated funding to the Office of Minority Health shows just how far away the Governor is from the goal of reducing health disparities based on race.”
“The governor’s budget gives millionaires a tax cut while choking off access to the middle class for hardworking New Yorkers, especially people of color,” said Amy Traub, Director of Research, Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. “President Bush decided Wall Street bankers were too big to fail. Apparently Cuomo thinks they’re too big to pay taxes too.”
The state budget is due April 1st. Governor Cuomo and the State Senate have proposed the most draconian cuts; the Assembly has proposed modest restorations with revenue generated from a modified “millionaires tax.”
“The Governor’s budget cuts will affect people of color more than any other group because people of color have the highest unemployment rate, have higher incidences of investigations by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), disparities in incomes and, as noted in Community Voices Heard’s (CVH) reports, have a harder time receiving services,” said Ann Valdez, Community Voices Heard Member-Leader. “Elimination of Transitional Jobs, reduction of the COLA increase to the welfare grant, and the implementation of full family sanctions will make it even harder.”
“The proposed budget is disproportionately hurting poor students and students of color, reversing much of the progress we have made as a state in closing the achievement gap,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education. “The Governor’s and the Senate Republicans’ insistence to cut taxes for millionaires and cut funding for students who only have one shot to succeed in their academic and adult lives, simply sends the wrong message to the youth of this state. Maybe that’s why people are leaving the state since they cannot count on it to provide equitable quality education to everyone.”
This report was written collaboratively by: Citizen Action of New York, Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, Community Voices Heard, Make the Road NY, Alliance for Quality Education, and the Drum Major Institute.
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