CPC Statement on the FY21 New York City Executive Budget
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
Date: 4/16/20
Contact: Carlyn Cowen, Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer (ccowen@cpc-nyc.org | 919-637-6866)
CPC STATEMENT ON THE FY21 NEW YORK CITY EXECUTIVE BUDGET
Chinese-American Planning Council disappointed in Executive Budget that cuts services essential for relief and recovery
New York, NY -- The Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), the nation’s largest Asian American social services organization, is disappointed in the FY21 New York City Executive Budget that cuts funding for essential services that would help vulnerable communities and organizations serving these communities survive and recover from COVID-19.
“During a global pandemic and rapidly deepening economic crisis, CPC is concerned that the FY21 Executive Budget does not include funding to protect Asian Americans, immigrants, low-income families, and human services workers who are providing essential services on the front lines of this crisis.” said Wayne Ho, President & CEO of CPC. “We urge the Mayor and the City Council to restore funding for critical social services and ensure safety of essential human services workers, provide relief for immigrant communities and other workers excluded from federal relief, and invest in the Asian American communities and small businesses that have been experiencing the harmful impacts of anti-Asian bias.”
While CPC recognizes the tough fiscal climate, Mayor de Blasio’s $89.3 billion Executive Budget proposal fails to protect those communities hit hardest by the pandemic and economic crisis. It cuts funding to key safety net programs that are more essential now than ever in supporting vulnerable communities during the pandemic and the recovery. The Executive Budget also fails to invest in the human services workforce, who are deemed essential during this crisis but who are left behind without incentive pay, personal protective equipment (PPE), and fully funded contracts. The reduction of culturally and linguistically appropriate services and the essential workforce who delivers these services puts thousands of more New Yorkers at risk of isolation, marginalization, and risk.
The Executive Budget also fails to plan ahead for long-term recovery. As economic insecurity rises and thousands of New Yorkers are left out of federal relief, New York City must fulfill its role as a sanctuary city by creating relief funds to support undocumented workers, other workers left out of the CARES Act, and small businesses. New York’s Asian American neighborhoods, including the many Chinatowns, have felt the harmful impacts of anti-Asian discrimination since January, yet this budget does not invest in impacted families and businesses and does not address long-standing funding inequities for the Asian American organizations that serve them.
CPC urges the Mayor and the City Council to prioritize protection for essential workers and restoration of human services, ensuring that immigrant families and businesses being disproportionately impacted by this crisis have a true opportunity for relief and recovery.