ALBANY, NY – On the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, the Members of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus led by Chair Assemblymember Michaelle Solages (AD 22), outlined the key priorities contained in The People’s Budget – an annual document that outlines the budget and legislative priorities necessary to uplift and empower communities of color across New York State.

As we look toward the future and meeting the ambitious goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), we must not just be carbon neutral, but carbon negative. We must prioritize investments in disadvantaged communities harmed by environmental racism as our state transitions away from fossil fuels. The 2022 legislative session is a critical opportunity to ensure that these urgently needed investments begin immediately. An annual investment in renewable energy, transportation, and infrastructure would create thousands of well-paid jobs across the state and allow for investments to flow through disadvantaged communities most harmed by the pollution-intensive fossil fuel economy.

For many years the Caucus has been a leading advocate for historic legislative gains that would finally address the systemic harms against BIPOC New Yorkers. The Caucus continues to stand by the legislature’s critical actions on bail, discovery, and parole reform, as well as ending the torture of solitary confinement.We are committed to protecting criminal justice reforms that root out the inequities that are a core part of our carceral system.

The Caucus is also fighting to guarantee that education remains a pathway for social mobility and financial security for people of color in New York. The state has a constitutional obligation to provide a high quality and comprehensive education that provides for the intellectual and social growth of all students. Creating a healthy learning environment requires hiring and retaining qualified educators who are culturally conscious and deeply invested in engaging with a diverse body of students. Additionally, the Caucus supports strategic investments in the education sector to support better health outcomes and improved childhood development. New York State must see that the full promise of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity is realized and establish a statewide universal pre-K program.

As the legislature moves forward in the budget process, the Caucus will strongly advocate for the inclusion of every initiative outlined in the People’s Priority document available online at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13kGC75CpR3Kd6Ag01qBMz6LkkdmLCQq4/view?usp=sharing.

“People of color face unique challenges as they seek to grow their families, become homeowners, or start a small business. Today, the Caucus has presented a blueprint for advancing the equality and prosperity of the communities that we represent. Specifically, we have proposed life changing policies such as New Deal 4 CUNY, universal pre-k and childcare, and the New York Health Act. All measures that would reinvigorate our economy and provide substantial support to children and families as we maneuver through this pandemic. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in government to present a forward and inclusive vision for New York State,” said Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus.

“The 2022 People’s Budget represents our state’s path forward for creating a New York that works for all people, focusing on including perspectives from our communities that are often systematically overlooked by our policymaking process,” said Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou (AD-65). “The proposals put forward in this budget are both practical and necessary if our government wants to live up to its stated promise of building a future where New Yorkers can thrive regardless of race, religion, socioeconomic status, or the circumstances of their birth. From improving access to education to addressing our state’s critical public and affordable housing needs and reforming a racist criminal justice system, the People’s Budget offers a voice to our unheard New Yorkers and a plan for addressing their challenges that puts the state on a long-term path to sustainable prosperity.”

"The course of our state is set each year by the budget we adopt. As New Yorkers of Color continue to face dramatic and disproportionate harm from COVID-19, this People's Budget is an opportunity to move towards a better and more equitable future,” said Senator Jabari Brisport (SD-25).

“As a caucus, the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus members represent the most impacted communities in our state. Therefore, we must deliver a budget that reflects the needs of those communities,” said Senator Robert Jackson (SD-31). “These issues are reflected in our People’s Budget, in bills like Turn on the TAP, Ending QI, Contracts for Excellence, Dyslexia Pathways, Solutions Not Suspensions, and Reclassification of Employees. In addition to other bills that address gun violence, create a culturally responsive-sustaining education framework and address food insecurity. I am hopeful that with a new governor who is willing to work with the supermajority, we can finally turn the corner to deliver a budget that will provide a justice roadmap to our working-class communities that will allow them to thrive.”

Senator Samra Brouk (SD-55) said, “I’m proud of the work that we, the members of the BPHA Caucus, have put into creating the 2022 Peoples’ Budget. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Mental Health, I am especially proud that my colleagues share my vision of creating a budget that values our mental health providers and strives to offer quality mental health services to those who need them most. We know that communities of color often have fewer access points to receive mental health care, and when they do, it is often care of a lower quality, or care that lacks cultural or linguistic competence. Together, we can develop our mental health care system in New York so that all people can receive high quality, competent care, and that the mental health workforce is treated and compensated fairly.”

“For years the People’s Budget has centered the needs of the marginalized in New York State. Our great state is only as great as its residents and for too long we have put to the wayside the needs of our people of color. The Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus has continually sought to bring attention to these shortcomings, and we are once again urging the Executive to prioritize our requests to make New York as just and equitable as it can be. Governor Hochul has the opportunity to reverse course on years of neglect from previous administrations. In this document we present a roadmap to the more equitable New York we all deserve” said Assemblymember Karines Reyes (AD-87).

“The People’s Budget is the voices of communities of color who are crying out for justice. I am resolved and stand with my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to address the historic disinvestment in BIPOC communities, exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic. We are laser-focused on achieving equity,” said Assemblymember Stefani L. Zinerman (AD-56). “Our priorities address an inequitable educational and healthcare system, environmental racism, the intractable expanse of homelessness, a growing workforce shortage, and a desperate need to reform our criminal justice system with an eye towards immigration, elder, and youth justice. This report is legislation-ready, a road map to keep ALL New Yorkers moving forward with recommendations to address needs of families in my district and beyond, who have been living outside the shadows of support for far too long.”

“At a time when the disparities for communities of color are more prevalent than ever, we must center racial justice in the recovery for New York State. The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged Black and Brown communities, violence against our Asian siblings has increased, and women of color have suffered from the unemployment crisis and lack of childcare,” said Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas (AD-34), Co-Chair of the Women of Color Subcommittee. “This session I look forward to organizing with colleagues to enact this People’s Budget, to pass the New York Health Act, invest in environmental justice, permanently fund excluded workers, and more.”

"At this critical time in our state's history, it is imperative that we put forth priorities that protect the health and safety of all New Yorkers. The People's Budget addresses that and provides ambitious economic, racial, and environmental justice funding," said Assemblymember Kenny Burgos (AD-85). "New Yorkers, especially my Bronx constituents, are counting on us to combat the inequities that continue to plague our state, as we have seen more significantly during this pandemic. It is my sincere hope that Governor Hochul includes our priorities, and I am looking forward to working with her as we continue to put our state on a path to recovery."

As we commemorate MLK Day the Black Puerto Rican, Hispanic, Asian, and Latino Legislative Caucus has always stood firm on the principles of uplifting and empowering minorities and communities of color. It's in this vein that the 2022 People's Budget prioritizes investing in disadvantaged communities of color harmed by different forms of inequity and racism. The Caucus has always provided a voice to ensure disadvantaged communities are heard and changes are made towards Education, Transportation, Criminal Justice Reform, and Infrastructure for a better prosperous future," said Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman (AD-29).

“A true justice system is transformative. For example, a transformative justice system recognizes that when an individual engages in a desperate act, such as stealing someone’s pocketbook, that taking the steps necessary to make the victim whole is only one half of the issue. A transformative justice system looks to the individual that committed the act. A transformative justice system addresses harm at the root. And that is why our caucus today is committed to transformative justice measures.” said Assemblymember Demond Meeks (AD-137).

“The measures that are outlined in the “People's Budget”, are matters that are important to the caucus members and the communities that we serve. We stand firmly behind the policies that we have proposed and will continue to pass legislation that effectuates needed change,” said Assemblymember Catalina Cruz (AD-39).