Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C,I-Corning) today joined a bi-partisan coalition of lawmakers from the Assembly to propose the restoration of $90 million to the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). The budget that was signed into law in March by the Governor cut $90 million from OPWDD, despite an amendment proposed by the Assembly minority to restore the funding.

“The developmentally disabled are the most vulnerable in our society, and my colleagues and I have continued to put pressure on the Governor to restore the funding for these essential services,” said Palmesano. “I’m very pleased to see so many of my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, joining this effort to restore this funding that should never have been cut from the budget to begin with. The services these non-profits provide to our developmentally disabled community are essential to their quality of life, and it is clear that our non-profit providers have demonstrated time and again their ability to provide quality services in a very cost-effective manner.”

In fact, our state's non-profit organizations, like the ARC's and Pathways, provide essential services to 80 percent of our state's most vulnerable New Yorkers - the developmentally disabled - for less than half the cost of state-provided services. A clear example of how important a role our non-profit providers play in delivering quality of care to our most vulnerable New Yorkers.

The Office of People With Developmental Disabilities has begun an effort to re-appropriate funding to non-profit services by making cuts to administrative costs. Assembly Bill 6692A will create an independent workgroup to determine how much more funding will be necessary to restore the cuts made in the March budget. The bill will allow for up to $90 million, if necessary, to be restored to OPWDD non-profit funding for the restoration of essential services.