TESTIMONY
Liza Schwartzwald on Prioritizing Immigration Issues and Funding in NYC's Budget
3:28:58
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171 sec
Liza Schwartzwald urges NYC to prioritize immigration issues and fund related programs in the upcoming budget, emphasizing the harm of austerity measures on vulnerable communities.
- Schwartzwald criticizes the use of budget scarcity narratives to justify austerity measures that harm vulnerable communities, including immigrants and LGBTQ individuals.
- She advocates for the renewal of funding for immigrant outreach programs, early childhood education, and expansions of child care voucher programs.
- Schwartzwald calls for increased investment in public schools, CUNY, and immigrant-specific education programs.
- She emphasizes the necessity of protecting programs at risk due to federal funding cuts and allocating more funds for immigrant legal services and language access initiatives.
- Acknowledges the NYC Council's commitment to fiscal responsibility that meets the needs of New Yorkers.
Liza Schwartzwald
3:28:58
Thank you.
3:29:00
For the opportunity
Alexa Avilés
3:29:00
to testify today, my name is Liza Schwartz.
Liza Schwartzwald
3:29:02
With the New York Immigration Coalition, and thank you again to the council for your leadership on immigration issues.
3:29:08
Now New York seems to be at across roads in how and who it chooses to prioritize when budgets are concerned.
3:29:14
False narratives of budgets scarcity and scapegoating new arrivals have been used to justify unnecessary SARITY MEASURES THAT NOT ONLY HARM OUR MOST VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, PARTICULARLY BLACK BROWN, Immigrant AND LGBTQ COMMUNITIES, BUT ALL NEW YORKERS.
3:29:27
We must fund the following priorities and programs in the upcoming budget to protect the interest, safety, and quality of life of all New Yorkers.
3:29:35
We must renew funding for critical outreach programs for immigrants, including the Access Health Initiative and the Key To the City Initiative, which help connect thousands of immigrant New Yorkers to critical services.
3:29:45
We must ensure the restoration of funding to 3 k and pre k programs, which are only which are often the only free early childhood education and care available to many immigrants.
3:29:56
We must expand the promise New York City child care voucher program to at least $20,000,000 to continue providing child care to the youngest immigrant children who are not eligible for other forms of child care vouchers.
3:30:08
We must fully invest in the New York Public Schools And CUNY, including protecting and expanding investments in the 6 English language learner transfer schools out side of Manhattan that support newcomers and asylum seekers students where they live and work, and international schools who specialize in supporting immigrant students.
3:30:26
We much further protect programs at risk of the federal cliff, including translation and interpretation and immigrant family engagement programs.
3:30:35
We must allocate funding in the city budget to expand city theft's voucher programs, support intro 210 to end shelter restrictions, invest $58,000,000 in immigrant legal services funding, invest $5,000,000 in funding to maintain the city language access worker cooperatives, which connect trained professional interpreters to city agencies and city run providers.
3:31:01
While supporting immigrant New Yorkers to pursue careers as language services professionals.
3:31:06
We must renew all adult literacy initiative council funding and base sign the full 21,700,000 that is in the mayor's preliminary budget and restore funding for professional development and technical assistance for DYCD fund at adult literacy programs that was decoupled from the funding to the programs themselves in FY 24.
3:31:26
In order to meet the overwhelming and unmet needs of New Yorkers, whether they've been here for 30 years or 30 days, we must act strategically and not in a reactionary manner.
3:31:36
We applaud the council's commitment to championing realistic and responsible fiscal commitments that represent the needs of New Yorkers and the true state of our city Budget.
3:31:45
Once again, thank you for the opportunity to testify, and we look forward to working with you.