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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kayt Tiskus, Principal at Collective Public Affairs
3:00:20
·
3 min
Kayt Tiskus, representing Collective Public Affairs, testified about the challenges faced by vulnerable populations in New York City, particularly focusing on domestic workers and the LGBTQ+ community. She highlighted the impact of federal funding cuts on gender-affirming care and healthcare providers serving these communities.
- Described an incident where domestic workers, many of whom were migrants, feared ICE intervention during a public event at City Hall.
- Emphasized the immediate and potential future cuts to gender-affirming care, especially for those under 19, affecting major healthcare providers like Callen-Lorde.
- Expressed concern over potential Medicaid cuts, which could severely impact clinics relying on Medicaid reimbursements.
- Supported the City Council's budget response, including $15 million for gender-affirming care and $6 million for homeless LGBTQ+ youth housing.
Kayt Tiskus
3:00:20
Hi.
3:00:21
My name is Kate Tiscus.
3:00:22
I'm with Collective Public Affairs.
3:00:23
Thank you, chairs Brannen and Ressler, for the opportunity to talk about these really important issues.
3:00:29
I'd actually like to begin by talking about an anecdote that some of my colleagues at who are with me with the domestic workers empowerment initiative will know all about.
3:00:40
We had a kickoff event on the stairs of City Hall where brought a bunch of domestic workers to come meet counselors.
3:00:46
It ended up being a terrifying event for almost everybody involved because there are migrants who were afraid that ICE would come to prevent their public participation from being fully safe for them.
3:00:58
So we had to send ice marshals before the event to scout out and make sure that there wasn't anybody in or near the steps, and then also to sort of walk folks out to make sure that they felt safe to involve themselves in public discourse.
3:01:11
So, like, I found out to be really kind of a stunner in New York City, and I wanted to share that out.
3:01:21
But in terms of federal funding and some of the the issues that we're facing today, I also work with the Trans Equity Coalition, and I wanted to be really clear about the gun that got aimed directly at the face of health care providers in the first days of the federal administration.
3:01:38
Many name brand providers who are institutions in the city, we're talking our Callan Lords, have already lost funding.
3:01:46
And the executive order that came down literally day one, taking aim at health care and gender affirming care for anyone under the age of 19 has already resulted in large losses.
3:01:57
The administration has made no secret that it intends to extend those cuts to gender affirming health care by which they're kind of defining any health care for somebody who is gender nonconforming, trans, or nonbinary.
3:02:11
And, also, they're taking aim at Medicaid.
3:02:14
And so lots of the clinics, including health and hospitals and Callan Lord that we're talking about, get up to eighty percent of their patient revenue and reimbursement for Medicaid.
3:02:24
So without backing from city council, they'd be facing closure within days of days or weeks when those cuts come down.
3:02:34
So I wanted to back the city council's courageous executive budget response, which already includes $15,000,000, is a hoped for fund for for backing up gender affirming care for people under the age of 19.
3:02:51
It also has $6,000,000 in the executive budget response for a hundred new beds for runaway and homeless LGBT youth because as you can imagine, with things this bad in New York City, they're even worse elsewhere.
3:03:04
And so we're already into we're already experiencing, as I my colleagues who are service providers are telling me, we're already experiencing an influx of people who are running here hoping to find some kind of shelter and solace.
3:03:18
So the fear that there will just, like, be a lack of access to basic health care is real, and health and hospitals in specific has been sort of the city leader.
3:03:30
So we really appreciate their courage and your courage in backing them up.