(Long Island, NY) Today, Assemblyman Hennessey released the following statement regarding a deal to restore cuts made to the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.
“The cuts made to the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) during this year’s budget process greatly concerned me,” Assemblyman Hennessey said. “And frankly, this is not a community that should be punished.”
This year’s state budget restored $30 million of $120 million in proposed cuts to OPWDD funding. However, it was still short of what was needed to provide services to this vulnerable population. Hennessey explained that in the week ahead, the legislature is expected to pass legislation that will restore the cuts made to OPWDD.
This legislation that Hennessey sponsored states that if the state budget working group’s savings plan does make up the $90 million, the balance is to be appropriated to OPWDD.
“The care and services that our most vulnerable community members and their families rely on is something that many people desperately need and I will continue to fight for them,” Assemblyman Hennessey concluded.
