Senate Announces Public Hearing On The Capital Needs of CUNY & SUNY

(Albany, NY) Today, the Senate announced that the Senate Committee on Higher Education will hold a statewide public hearing on funding the capital needs of New York’s public colleges. Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, will lead the hearing to gather input from higher education professionals, sustainability experts and other stakeholders about meeting the capital needs of CUNY & SUNY campuses.

“We need to have real discussions on the crumbling infrastructure at many of our public colleges and universities,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. “No New York student, from pre-K children to adults pursuing advanced degrees, should have to attend classes in a building falling down around them. I thank Senator Toby Ann Stavisky for organizing this hearing so we can hear from stakeholders about the capital needs of our public higher educational institutions.”

Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Higher Education said, “CUNY and SUNY have suffered due to a lack of capital funding necessary to meet the needs of the 21^st century.  We have a unique opportunity to invest in our education system while at the same time building a greener environment and creating hundreds of jobs in the labor sector. This hearing will bring to light the urgent need to repair the aging campuses and allow New York to be a leader in the green economy. Critical maintenance was addressed in past budgets, where leaky pipes were repaired and buildings were painted but there were no shovels in the ground. We have not had a five-year capital budget since 2008 and it is long overdue.”

The hearing will be in Manhattan on Monday, December 16^th, 2019.  A press conference will be held prior to the hearing at 11:00 AM at 250 Broadway, 19^th Floor, New York, NY 10007. The hearing will follow at 11:30 AM in the Senate Hearing Room.

Attendance at the public hearing is open to the public, though oral testimony is by invitation only. Anyone wishing to submit written testimony or comments should send them to chapnick@nysenate.gov.

A webcast of the hearing will be available in the New York Senate’s website.