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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kevin Kiprovski, Director of Public Policy at Live On New York, on Federal Funding Cuts Impact on Older New Yorkers
1:44:08
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3 min
Kevin Kiprovski, representing Live On New York, testified about the impact of federal funding cuts on older New Yorkers and the city's aging services. He emphasized the critical nature of various federal programs for seniors and urged the city to prioritize and invest in services for older adults to mitigate potential harm from federal cuts.
- Highlighted the dissolution of the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and its impact on Older American Act programs
- Stressed that proposed cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, housing programs, and SNAP would disproportionately affect older New Yorkers
- Proposed a $2.3 billion investment in the "Age Strong New York" campaign to prepare the city for an aging population and ensure older New Yorkers can live and thrive in the city
Kevin Kiprovski
1:44:08
morning, chairs Brennan and chair Ressler.
1:44:11
It is really important to hold this hearing, and I'm really grateful that you have sort of brought us in to testify about this.
1:44:19
My name is Kevin Kuprowski, and I'm the director of public policy for Live On New York.
1:44:22
We are an organization that represents over a hundred aging service providers throughout the city.
1:44:27
Our members do everything from run older adult centers, home delivered meals programs, case management programs, basically things that allow people to live healthy and live in their homes.
1:44:37
Right now, the federal government has already dissolved ACL to echo Brian's sentiments about that.
1:44:42
ACL, the, Administration for Community Living, disperses funds for the Older American Act programs, which are a lot of the programs in the city.
1:44:49
So we've already seen huge cuts that we don't know what the impacts are gonna be, but we're bracing for them, and we're trying to figure out what the best way to move forward is in that uncertainty.
1:44:59
The other cuts that are being proposed by the federal government to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, housing programs like section eight and SNAP will disproportionately affect older New Yorkers.
1:45:08
Older New Yorkers are 20% of our population.
1:45:11
And just for some numbers, Medicaid alone brings in $40,000,000,000 to the New York City area through coverage of people of all ages.
1:45:18
Over 400,000 households in our city with an older adult rely on SNAP to meet their basic nutritional requirements.
1:45:24
Over 1,000,000 New Yorkers over the age of 65 receive Social Security benefits.
1:45:29
Cuts to these programs seem almost specifically targeted to hurt older people and hurt older people in our city.
1:45:35
We will see people who were born and raised in the city put out onto the street if these cuts go through.
1:45:42
We will see people who have lived here for decades lose access to stable nutrition and lose access to their medical care.
1:45:48
When it comes to older adult services, however, there is something that the city can do because the funding for a lot of DFTA's programming amounts to only half a percent of the budget.
1:45:58
Any cuts to that will only amount to small amounts.
1:46:01
So if the federal government were to cut all of the funding to DFTA, it's about 25% of DFTA's portfolio.
1:46:06
The other 75% is city tax levy.
1:46:08
It would only be about a hundred and 20,000,000 to keep services running as they are.
1:46:12
And that's key because DFTA's portfolio is one of the only things that can mitigate the harms if the federal government decides to cut all of these programs.
1:46:21
DFTA's portfolio allows meals to be delivered directly to people's homes and to be gotten in congregate settings so we can give people some security on the food level.
1:46:29
DFTA's programming connects people to services they may not know about both federally and otherwise so we can ensure that if federal lines get cut, folks have access to private lines, to to to different charity lines, and ensuring that that works out the way it does.
1:46:40
The first thing that I'm gonna say is we can't cut the budget.
1:46:43
The mayor has put a hundred and $2,000,000 budget cut just for this year that will close-up to 90 centers now we've estimated.
1:46:49
It was 60.
1:46:50
That's new.
1:46:50
90 centers now that we've estimated.
1:46:53
And if they go through it, you know, we're gonna lose almost a third of the senior centers in the city.
1:46:57
That that just can't happen.
1:46:58
Second, we've put together our age strong New York campaign that goes through housing, nutrition, and community services.
1:47:03
It shows that with a $2,300,000,000 investment, we can prepare our city for aging.
1:47:07
We are an aging city.
1:47:08
We must recognize that.
1:47:10
It's not a dirty thing.
1:47:11
It's not a bad word.
1:47:11
With proper investment, we can be a great city with a lot of older New Yorkers who can live here, stay here, and thrive.
1:47:17
And lastly, we need to make sure older New Yorkers are part of every single story we tell.
1:47:21
A recent Sienna poll showed that 70% of all demographics think aging in place should be a top priority of whoever wants to be the next mayor, and 30% of those people across all demographics think it should be the top priority, second only to affordable housing.
1:47:36
So we need to make sure that we are lifting the voices of the older New Yorkers in our city, not just for, you know, people who are older now, but for us.
1:47:43
Because if we are in the city and we are aging in the city, we need to create a place where we can be too.
1:47:48
That's all I have to say.
1:47:49
If you have any questions, please let me know.
1:47:51
And, again, thank you so much for this incredibly important opportunity to testify.
Lincoln Restler
1:47:54
Thank you all.