Public Money for Public Good – Powering Stronger, Resilient Communities to Thrive Across New York
Albany, NY – Today, Citizen Action of New York unveiled Our Justice Agenda 2025, a package of priority bills that address housing, health care, education and child care, the climate crisis, ending mass incarceration, democracy and public money. With the rights of everyday New Yorkers under constant attack and critical services left grossly underfunded, Citizen Action is calling on elected officials to prioritize the needs of everyday New Yorkers—not the profits of billionaires and corporate interests.
While Governor Hochul claims to prioritize affordability and essential services, her Fiscal Year 2026 Executive Budget falls significantly short in addressing head on the pressing needs of working families across the state. While the budget includes some minor gains, it glaringly fails to address the root causes of the affordability crisis. The budget’s inadequate provisions for healthcare and childcare, alongside insufficient climate initiatives and housing strategies, fall far short of what New Yorkers need. Hochul’s refusal to implement a fair tax on the ultra wealthy deprives the state of necessary revenue to invest in communities and public services.
“New Yorkers are tired of the empty promises,” said Rebecca Garrard, Interim Co-Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “Billionaires and their political allies are working hard to keep hoarding wealth while our communities are left behind. We’re seeing our public schools starved of resources, our housing system in crisis, and our health care system failing families. Every issue is interconnected and we can’t fix one without fixing them all. Citizen Action stands ready to fight at the grassroots level and at the legislative level to ensure a New York where everyone has equal opportunity to thrive.”
Our Justice Agenda 2025 outlines a vision to address the interconnected crises New Yorkers face. The main tenets of this vision are:
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Housing: Everyone deserves guaranteed housing that is safe and dignified, regardless of their income or social status. We must protect tenants and invest in community ownership.
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Healthcare Equity: Health care is a human right. We must shrink the racial divide in health care, expand access to mental health care, and stop corporations from profiteering off patients.
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Democracy: We must strengthen and maintain the integrity of our democracy, which means protecting the rights of every single person to participate in it.
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Climate: We must address the climate crisis. Everyone deserves to live in a healthy and resilient community, and the ability to afford their energy bills. We will prioritize frontline communities, low-income communities, and communities of color.
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Childhood and Early Education: Every child, regardless of zip code, deserves access to high-quality and affordable child care and public education in which they are able to grow emotionally, mentally, culturally, and creatively.
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Revenue and Economic Justice: Every New Yorker should be able to thrive. We must prioritize public goods and services, not corporate handouts.
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Ending Mass Incarceration: Every person has inherent dignity, including those who cause harm. We must end the system of modern-day slavery in New York
Citizen Action of New York is committed to ensuring that Our Justice Agenda 2025 becomes more than just a vision—it will be a movement. The organization plans to mobilize communities, lobby legislators, and organize mass actions across the state to demand meaningful legislation and real investments to better our communities.
Our full Justice Agenda with the legislation we are advocating for can be found HERE.