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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Justin Wood, Director of Policy at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
2:22:31
·
3 min
Justin Wood from New York Lawyers for the Public Interest testified about the devastating impact of federal funding cuts on New York City communities and nonprofit organizations. He emphasized the need for enhanced support for immigrant health initiatives and the importance of legislative campaigns to ensure New York's financial independence from the federal government.
- Requested an enhancement to the Immigrant Health Initiative funding due to increasing complexity and urgency of immigration and medical cases.
- Highlighted the formation of a rapid nonprofit defense network to address threats from federal agencies against organizations providing services to immigrant communities.
- Advocated for legislative initiatives like congestion pricing and cap-and-invest programs to generate independent funding for New York City and State.
Justin Wood
2:22:31
Hello.
2:22:32
Thank you so much Chair Brannan, Chair Ressler, Councilmember Schulman and members of the council staff for the opportunity to testify.
2:22:40
My name is Justin Wood.
2:22:42
I'm the Director of Policy at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
2:22:44
I am also a Staten Islander.
2:22:46
It's great to see so many neighbors here.
2:22:48
But I'm testifying about citywide issues today.
2:22:52
We are an almost fifty year old civil rights legal organization with active programs in disability justice, health justice, environmental justice, and we operate a pro bono clearinghouse that directly connects impacted community clients and grassroots organizations with pro bono legal services from the private bar.
2:23:14
I'll shorten my testimony.
2:23:16
We've heard so much about the devastating impact that's actually happening.
2:23:21
The threats are having an effect, but the actual cuts and atmosphere of fear is having a devastating effect on New York City communities that can least afford this type of austerity and fear.
2:23:35
We and the nonprofit sector we work with are responding and we're deeply grateful for the partnership to date with the city council.
2:23:44
It's disappointing the administration didn't show up today to talk about this.
2:23:49
We're deeply thankful for the investments the council has made to date in initiatives that are from your discretion, your body's discretionary funding like the Immigrant Health Initiative.
2:24:02
We are respectfully asking for an enhancement this year.
2:24:06
The immigration and medical cases that we take through our health justice program and our medical providers network are increasing in number, increasing in urgency, increasing in complexity because of all the fear and direct cuts and fear of accessing basic services and need for immigration services we've heard so much about today.
2:24:28
So we respectfully put that before the committee and on the record.
2:24:32
Secondly, we formed a rapid nonprofit defense network since President Trump's inauguration.
2:24:41
And sad to say that is more needed than ever.
2:24:44
We've heard from so many nonprofits today about what's actually happening.
2:24:48
These things are real.
2:24:50
Organizations really are receiving threats from agencies like FEMA and others because they've provided food to immigrant communities or just to all New Yorkers regardless of background.
2:25:01
So that's actually happening.
2:25:03
I wanted in the final thirty seconds just to mention another topic, which is we want to continue working with the council on legislative and implementation campaigns that can help assure New York state and city's independence financially from the federal government as much as possible in this atmosphere.
2:25:20
So just to name a few of the wins.
2:25:22
Congestion pricing has been a win win that has secured billions of dollars in capital funding for the MTA.
2:25:28
We've worked on the accessibility components of that with you, and that's something that hopefully we can do independent of the federal government.
2:25:38
There are other things at the state level, like the overdue cap and invest program that should be generating 3,000,000,000 to $6,000,000,000 minimum in investment funds at the state level while bringing down greenhouse gas and local air pollution that the governor hasn't released.
2:25:54
We would love to partner with the council in raising one unified voice and demanding that those solutions be advanced this year.
2:26:02
So we're excited to do that.
2:26:03
We're really excited about initiatives the council has announced, like the Local Law 97 Compliance Initiative.
2:26:10
Again, these are things that maximize our economic job creation in New York City and do necessary environmental justice and climate work and we think are very effective in terms of revenue.
2:26:22
So I'll leave it there.
2:26:23
We'll submit a longer statement.
2:26:24
Thank you so much.