Addabbo’s Statement at the Queens Council for Development Disabilities Breakfast
(Queens, NY) – NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., made the following remarks at today’s Queens Council for Developmental Disabilities’ breakfast held at Flushing Town Hall:
Good morning and thank you for asking me to join you today. Let me first express my deepest thanks to all of you for the incredible work you do every day in providing vital services to children and young adults with developmental disabilities in Queens.
The work you do is highly rewarding, but it’s also tough. You all strive to do your very best for developmentally disabled young people, providing unique assistance to them as well as support for their families. Your work is essential to helping disabled New Yorkers reach their highest personal potential and enjoy the best possible quality of life.
But this year, you are all facing special fiscal challenges in New York State. As you know, the Governor’s 30-day budget amendments – if left standing – will amount to a $240 million cut in funding for not-for-profit providers of developmental disability services in New York. This six percent across-the-board reduction in funds would be disastrous to the young people and families in need of your services. There must be a better way to address the issue of past Medicaid overpayments identified by the federal government – one that will reasonably address the overpayment issue without decimating dedicated providers and harming their clients.
With significant cuts a few years back, and no increase in funding last year, this $240 million reduction would amount to a loss of $400 million over the last three years to providers. This is not acceptable. Those of you who work with the developmentally disabled fought hard in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 budget years to win needed funding increases for staff salaries and to cover higher health benefit costs. You deserved that aid.
Even in the toughest of times – and we’re certainly facing them now in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and its devastating impact on our people and our economy – we have an obligation to protect our most vulnerable citizens. The young people and families you serve every day are among them. We’ve worked together to restore proposed cuts to the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities in the past, and I am hopeful that we will do so again in 2012-2013.
Thank you, and know that I am in your corner today and always.
