Directors / Legislative Directors:
On Tuesday, May 3, we conducted a NYSPEC Legislative Committee meeting in Albany. Attendance was greater than expected, and I thank those who were able to attend. For those who were unable to attend, I write today to update you. However, this message is a call to action to all NYSPEC members.
While those present raised a number of issues important to our members, the two main topics of discussion were tier equity and single-payer health care (the New York Health Act). I will address the single-payer issue in a subsequent email.
As per our discussion and decisions at this Tuesday’s meeting, I have requested meetings with Governor Hochul, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Heastie with respect to the issue of the urgent need for additional legislative action, during this session, on tier equity.
Attached is a copy of the letter which was sent along with the meeting requests.
The limited tier changes that were made in the budget, while a positive step, were inadequate and did not impact all our members. Time is of the essence with, as of this writing, just 13 scheduled session days remaining. As was decided, each and every member unit should contact the governor and the leaders of the two houses to follow-up on the urgency of the requested meetings, as they need to be flooded with calls from the member units in NYSPEC stating the request for the meeting was directed by the membership. This affects every member unit, and cannot be put off until next year; we have to operate under the assumption that it’s now or never to get some meaningful tier equity!
In Unity,
Peter D. Meringolo
Chairman
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