April Newsletter
The legislative session is in full swing, and we’ve been fighting to make our communities’ voices heard in the statehouse. Now that the budget process is over (more on that below), we’re going all in on passing key pieces of transformative legislation as we continue to scale up our organizing and talk to thousands of voters about our endorsed candidate Sarahana Shrestha.
Keep scrolling for details and ways you can get involved in our work to transform New York.
Our members are the backbone of our movement, and our monthly community meetings play an important role to bring in new members, develop our member leaders, and get prepared for the fights to come.
Last week, we held our first community meeting in Sullivan County. We’re excited to take our fights for housing, healthcare, immigration justice, climate justice, and more to Sullivan County!
Our next in-person community meetings are THIS WEEK – join us on Thursday night (4/14) in Middletown and Kingston, and on Friday night (4/15) in Newburgh and Poughkeepsie. This month, we’ll be digging into why utility bills are skyrocketing and what we can do to fight back. Food and childcare provided! RSVP to a community meeting here.
Want to connect with us from home? Our April VIRTUAL community meeting is Wednesday, April 27 at 7pm via Zoom. Sign up here.
We rallied in Newburgh to demand Governor Hochul and the state legislature extend New York’s social safety net to include undocumented communities. These New Yorkers were excluded from COVID relief and don’t have access to affordable healthcare and unemployment benefits because of their immigration status.
Nearly one week after the April 1 deadline, the legislature and Governor Hochul finally came to an agreement on the state budget. Let’s be clear: the final budget is a disgrace.
No money was allocated to replenish COVID relief funds for undocumented immigrants, and our effort to expand healthcare was watered down to only cover immigrants over 65. Meanwhile, Governor Hochul was able to win $600 MILLION in funding for a new football stadium and squeeze in bail reform rollbacks that will keep more people locked up.
It’s clear that business as usual in the state legislature is holding us back from making real progress. We need to elect champions who will fight for our communities in the halls of power and break the status quo.
Speaking of changing the culture in Albany….
We had a full house at the recent How to Fight Central Hudson Town Hall with our endorsed Assembly candidate, climate activist Sarahana Shrestha.
One of the many reasons we’ve endorsed Sarahana for Assembly District 103 is because she’s the only candidate in the race who will fight for the Build Public Renewables Act, a groundbreaking bill that will vastly expand renewable energy production and provide a public option for utilities to stop the price gouging of corporations.
Can we count on you to volunteer this month and help us build momentum for the Build Public Renewables Act and Sarahana’s campaign?
Text for Build Public Renewables
This year’s budget process proves that even with a Democratic supermajority in the state legislature, we’re going to have to fight tooth and nail to get funding and protections for our communities.
Winning Good Cause Eviction, the New York Health Act, and Build Public Renewables won’t be easy, but we’ve taken on the establishment before – and won. If you’re as fired up about these fights as we are, sign up to volunteer, come out to a community meeting, or make a donation to fund our work.
