Assemblymember Brindisi Helps Restore Vital Funding For People with Disabilities

June 17, 2013

Assemblymember Anthony J. Brindisi (D - Utica) announced the Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill he sponsored that would provide a mechanism to restore recent funding cuts to the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) (A.6692).

“It is our responsibility to do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable of our citizens,” Assemblymember Brindisi said. “Restoring the funding for OPWDD is the right thing to do, and I won’t stop until it happens. Many New Yorkers depend on these services, and the programs simply can’t absorb the cuts.”

This year’s state budget restored $30 million of $120 million in proposed cuts to OPWDD funding. However, this restoration is still shy of what is needed to provide services to this vulnerable population, leaving a 4.5 percent cut totaling $90 million. This bill would restore up to the remaining $90 million to OPWDD to help nonprofits who work with some of New York’s most vulnerable people.

“I express heartfelt thanks to the legislators who supported this restoration and commend the families and friends of individuals with intellectual disabilities who advocated so strenuously on behalf of the people we support, said Karen Korotzer CEO of the Arc Oneida-Lewis. The passage of the restoration bill by the Assembly will have a profound impact on the Arc’s ability to maintain services”.

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