Senator Parker Demands that Cuomo Restore Funding to Community Organizations

FROM THE OFFICE OF STATE SENATOR KEVIN PARKER (D-21)

Contact: Ricja Rice ‌‌‌‌‌| rrice@nysenate.gov | 518-455-2580 ph |518-426-6843 fax

For Immediate Release: April 13, 2012

 (Brooklyn, NY)   Today State Senator Kevin Parker (D- Brooklyn) called upon Governor Cuomo to restore the reappropriations to vital community organizations which he haphazardly vetoed on Wednesday.  Parker wrote a letter describing the need to honor the State’s already made promises to fund community organizations that play a vital role in stabilizing our most vulnerable populations.

 “Truth be told this is not new money, this is already promised old money that the State owes to the people” Parker states.  “It’s a shame that a Governor who touts himself as a protector of the people would veto the funding necessary to provide vital services such as economic development, crisis and domestic violence prevention, and children services” continued Parker.

At a time when the economy is stagnant, and your budgets have cut social services to the bone, non-profits are struggling to pick up the slack.  The Governor vetoed funding for 130 of these non-profit organizations in the “Reappropriations” section of the budget.  Ninety-nine (99) of the community projects vetoed were allocated by Senate Democrats in past years. 

It is important to note that according to New York State finance law, new allocations must be enumerated as such in a different section of the budget.  Therefore by definition, new member items would not appear in the “reappropriations” section of the budget.

 “For the Governor to act is if he was simply vetoing new funding that the State cannot afford is disingenuous because the funding was already there to be used for community project funding” stated Parker.  “This funding is often the only way our grassroots organizations provide day-to-day vital services to our community.  The notion of vetoing and doing away with member items is equivalent to kicking the poor, disadvantaged and underserved while they’re down on the ground” concluded Parker.

About Senator Kevin Parker

Senator Kevin S. Parker is intimately familiar with the needs of his ethnically diverse community that consists of 311,000 constituents in Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington and Borough Park. He is the Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, former Majority Whip and Chair of the Democratic Task Force on New Americans.

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