Aftermath of the NYAIL Albany Legislative Advocacy Day

Independent Perspective 1736 with Todd Vaarwerk on the aftermath of the NYAIL Albany Legislative Advocacy Day.

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Todd Vaarwerk, Chief Policy Officer of WNYIL, and I’m your host Ernie Churchwell. Welcome back to the program Todd.

Guest:  Always good to be here.

Host:  And it's our pleasure to have you because you are the man at the center of the action legislatively. For those that missed our previous program, talking about when it was up and coming, they may not know what the Albany Legislative Advocacy day trip was for. Could you at least summarize that before you tell us the consequences thereof?

Guest:  Well, I definitely want to make sure that people know that it's an event sponsored by the New York Association on Independent Living, and it's about educating members of the legislature about the importance of the issues that we face. So, in the time we've got, I just want to kind of go over what came out of that activity in the budget and the things that we're going to be watching for. First thing and probably the most important is funding for disability services. For example, Independent Living is still level funded at $16 million. Now, if you think about the fact that one center which is WNYIL saves the state about maybe 5 million a year, right, just on keeping people in the community, 16 million statewide for 40 senators is not a lot of money. Right? And similar programs that are just as important to us are still level funded in the budget. Access to Home is one, Access to Home is the modification program for people that might need a ramp or lift on their home but they're not eligible for something else. That's the level of funding at $1 million statewide. So how many families do you think you're going to help for $1 million statewide?

Host:  And that's a big drop from its original intent, right?

Guest:  Right. So, but the most important thing I want to kind of get out there is you're going to hear about Fair Pay for Home Care. And this is a similar item to what's happening with the DSPs and service professionals for OPWDD, the governor in her zeal to tie minimum wage to inflation, trying to improve the value of minimum wage for New Yorkers, is kind of forgetting that people that are serving people with disabilities in the community. They have harder jobs. And last year in last year's budget, there was a deal. So, for example, that personal care aides got paid $3 more an hour over two years. We're not even done with that deal yet. And here's the governor turning around, saying well, I'm still going to give you the other dollar I promised you, but I'm not going to index it to the regular minimum wage. So as the minimum wage goes up for everyone else, yours won't until you go back to being at minimum wage again. So our folks at Fair Pay for Home Care are going to strenuously advocate to get to their goal of 150% of the region's minimum wage, but I think the fight we're going to need to be keeping locally for this year’s budget, is making sure that the governor keeps her word about making sure that disability services and specifically those things that we depend on, to stay in the community are not just level funded, but competitively priced so that we can get people into those jobs.

Host:  And as you've alluded to before, everything we do is that helps keep people independent in their own homes and out of nursing homes, means a big saving for the taxpayers. So, it's really the smart road to follow. We're running low on time, and I'm sure people will have questions. What's the best way to reach you to find out their answers?

Guest:  they can always call me 716-836-0822 extension 101 or email me at tvaarwerk@wnyil.org.

Host:  And we thank you and all of our other representatives from the WNYIL family of agencies who trekked to Albany to tell our legislators just what's what and thank you for being with us today.

Guest:  Always a pleasure, sir.

Host:  You’ve been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today has been Todd Vaarwerk, Chief Policy Officer of WNYIL, and I've been your host Ernie Churchwell.