‘Compassionate’ legislation will save state money: progressives

ALBANY — Left-leaning advocacy groups and lawmakers say new taxes on the wealthy and billions in spending approved in the state budget are just the start for a state seeking a path to economic recovery post-COVID.

A coalition of progressive groups is rolling out a new “Compassionate New York” legislative package that they believe will protect New Yorkers across the state and deliver billions in savings in the wake of the pandemic.

Key priorities will be guaranteeing health care for all New Yorkers, putting an end to unjust evictions and ending mass incarceration.

“Access to affordable health care, stable housing and housing rights, and reforming our criminal legal and immigration systems are issues of racial and economic justice where all New Yorkers deserve change,” said Marvin Mayfield, a statewide organizer with the Center for Community Alternatives.

A report set to be released Thursday, timed to dovetail with campaign launches in lower Manhattan and upstate Rochester, contends that the “Compassionate New York” agenda could save the state nearly $12 billion in the first year of implementation alone.

Supporters say the time is ripe to act in the wake of a $212 billion state budget that will increase taxes on New York’s richest residents and boost spending on education and social services across the board. The Legislative session in Albany runs through June 10.

Central to the campaign will be pushing for the passage of the New York Health Act, a measure that would create a version of a single-payer health care system for universal health coverage in New York.

The report indicates that implementing the program, which has broad support in the Democratic-led Legislature, would reduce total health care spending by at least $10 billion.

“It’s morally just and financially responsible,” said Ursula Rozum, the co-director of the Campaign for New York Health. “The pandemic has put the spotlight on how the health care system fails people in New York, especially working-class New Yorkers and communities of color.”

Another central component of the package will be passage of “good cause” eviction protections, which would limit the grounds upon which a landlord can kick out a tenant.

Supporters say the measure could save New Yorkers more than $1.6 billion a year, and advocates argue that all of the legislation under the “compassionate” umbrella is related.

“We can’t have healthy communities unless people have stable housing,” said Lucas Sanchez, deputy director of New York Communities for Change. “Good cause eviction legislation will go a long way to ensure that formerly incarcerated individuals can come home and rebuild their lives and their families. And if we can combine that with access to health care, we can reimagine a new New York grounded in compassion and healthy communities rather than our current bleak reality of incarceration, eviction, early death.”

The third major component of the package is a slate of bills aimed at reducing the prison population in the state.

Parts of the already announced “Justice Roadmap” plan include a pair of bills that would grant parole to eligible people in prison unless they pose a clear risk of violating the law and allow inmates older than 55 who have served 15 years or more of their sentences to apply for parole. Other bills deal with raising the age of juvenile delinquency and ending “predatory” court fees.

The elder parole and Fair and Timely Parole bills would save $522 million annually, while restoring financial aid access to incarcerated college students could save $22 million, according to the analysis supporting the groups’ efforts.

“The cycles of inequality caused by housing instability and eviction, incarceration, and lack of affordable health care are interconnected and perpetuate one another,” Mayfield said. “The stability afforded by good cause, the ... justice done by parole reform and the Justice Roadmap, and the New York Health Act will save New York billions of dollars in administrative costs and will make our communities safer and healthier both during and long after the end of this public health crisis.”

‘Access to affordable health care, stable housing and housing rights, and reforming our criminal legal and immigration systems are issues of racial and economic justice where all New Yorkers deserve change.’ MARVIN MAYFIELD