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Q&A
Council member questions funding levels for Community Food Connection program
1:18:56
·
3 min
Council Member Diana I. Ayala expresses concerns about the funding levels for the Community Food Connection (CFC) program in the executive budget. OMB Director Jacques Jiha responds with details on the current funding and potential for future adjustments.
- The executive plan includes an additional $36.1 million for CFC, bringing the FY2026 budget to $57 million
- Council member Ayala argues this is insufficient and expresses concern about the impact of federal funding cuts
- OMB Director Jiha notes the addition of $36 million for 700 community kitchens and food pantries, and $10 million for the Go Seek to Grow program
- Discussion on the possibility of baselining the funding and the challenges of finding long-term funding sources
Diana I. Ayala
1:18:56
Okay.
1:18:57
Well, the executive plan includes an additional 36,100,000.0 bringing the CFC fiscal budget, fiscal twenty twenty six budget up to 57,000,000.
1:19:08
It is not enough to address the critical need of this program.
1:19:11
Food pantries and soup kitchens are often the only choice for some of our city's most vulnerable residents, which is why the council has long supported and pushed for the expansion of this program.
1:19:21
I'm still concerned that the funding was not baseline or increased to meet the growing need in fiscal year twenty six and beyond.
1:19:28
The threat and actuality of federal funding cuts has already impacted the provider network and will cost food pantries to rely more heavily on CFC and city funding.
1:19:37
As part of the fiscal year twenty six preliminary budget response, the council called on the administration to add 79,100,000.0 in CFC baseline to both restore one time funding in fiscal year twenty five and to expand the annual budget for program to 100,000,000.
1:19:54
In the general welfare executive budget hearing, HRA testified that the agency would work closely with ONB on adjusting CFC funding.
1:20:02
What is the actual spending thus far in fiscal year twenty five for CFC and how much was spent in fiscal year twenty four?
Jacques Jiha
1:20:09
For fiscal year twenty six, we added $36,000,000 for 700 community kitchens and food pantry citywide program in connection with the community food connection program.
1:20:24
So we have a budget of more than $50,000,000.
1:20:27
We also added $10,000,000 in fiscal year twenty six for the Go Seek to Grow program.
1:20:32
Again, as I said, as we get closer to adoption, we'd be more than happy to work with you and council to see what can be done if, you know, if we believe that there is a budget need, we'll try to work with you and the council to see what can be done.
1:20:51
Yeah.
1:20:52
But we added some, from our perspective, some significant resources in the executive budget.
1:20:58
It's about over $50,000,000 right now.
Diana I. Ayala
1:21:01
Yeah.
1:21:01
The the food pantry.
Preston Niblack
1:21:02
I know.
Diana I. Ayala
1:21:03
Yeah.
1:21:03
And the lines have gotten so long.
1:21:06
I mean, even way past the, you know, beginning of the the pandemic, when we expected that they would decrease, they've only gotten bigger, you know, longer.
1:21:19
I have one around the corner from where I live and I in that line used to you know never made it to my building and is actually surpassing my building at this point which is a sight to see you know.
1:21:31
It's really it's heartbreaking But at the same time you know so grateful that those resources do exist to help New Yorkers that really desperately need them.
1:21:43
So is the analysis of need that OMB has done to assess the budget sufficient, or is our conversations with OMB being had with HRA regarding this?
Jacques Jiha
1:21:55
We we we will have a discussion with HRA, but again, we kept the budget at the same level that we had last year.
Diana I. Ayala
1:22:01
So Is there any intention to baseline at any point?
Jacques Jiha
1:22:04
Again, if we could identify long term funding, we will always try to do the right thing, but again, as I said, you know, it's not easy to find long term funding source to baseline all the programs that from our perspective need to be baseline.
1:22:21
So we have to take each one program at a time and see what can be done and if the resources are there, we try to do the right thing.
Diana I. Ayala
1:22:28
I know it's not an easy position to be in.