Politico NY Covers Sign-On Letter Decrying Gov. Hochul's Budget "Ageist"

Politico NY Covers Sign-On Letter Decrying Gov. Hochul's Budget "Ageist"

AN ‘AGEIST’ BUDGET: Over 140 advocacy organizations around the state are putting pressure on Hochul to allocate more money toward aging New Yorkers, calling her budget “an ageist document.”

The organizations, which include the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State and Catholic Charities, sent a letter to Hochul this afternoon alleging her budget shows “a clear lack of consideration for the millions of older adults in New York.”

“The current budget allocation for the New York State Office for the Aging is less than 0.8 percent of the total budget, significantly below what is required to meet the growing needs in our communities,” says the letter, which was exclusively shared with Playbook.

Hochul’s team did not respond to Playbook’s requests for comment.

In her budget briefing book, the words “children,” “child care” and “child” are mentioned more than 90 times collectively, but the word “senior,” in reference to older adults, is mentioned just once, Allison Nickerson, executive director of LiveOn NY, told Playbook.

“Older adults” and “adult caregivers” also barely received a mention, Nickerson said.

The groups say Hochul’s proposed budget would cut $9.3 million from homecare services and $2.5 million from the office for the aging’s Long Term Care Ombudsman Program.

The cuts come at an especially fraught time for aging New Yorkers. During the Covid pandemic, many low-income elderly New Yorkers saw various support systems — like routine meals from family members or programming at community centers — completely disappear. But the gap was filled with federal pandemic aid.

Now those federal dollars have dried up, and the groups say Hochul’s budget would cut services at a time when more investment is needed.

Currently, at least 18,000 aging New Yorkers are waiting to receive crucial services like Meals on Wheels, transportation or case management services, and an immediate investment of $51 million is needed to make those support services accessible, the organizations wrote.

In New York, about 1 in 5 residents are above the age of 65. That population is expected to grow significantly over the next decade.

“The state really cannot move forward unless it is addressing the issues of older adults,” Nickerson said. — Jason Beeferman