The Legislative Session 

The New York State Legislature convenes from January 5, 2022 through June 2, 2022. During this six-month period, legislators hear from constituents and advocacy groups about various policy priorities and vote on bills. The legislature also reviews the Executive Budget Proposal by the Governor that was released on January 18, 2022. Once the Executive Budget is released, advocates schedule meetings with legislators to gain support for funding and for key policy issues. From January through March, both houses in the legislature (the Assembly and the Senate) make adjustments to the Executive Budget Proposal and include their budget priorities in their One-House Budget Proposals. Once those one-house budget proposals are released by the Assembly and the Senate, negotiations occur to reach a final state budget to be passed by April 1st for the start of the State’s fiscal year. ( Learn more about the budget process here).

NYSDRA Advocacy

$1.5 Million Budget Request – Funding for CDRC Staffing 
This legislative session, NYSDRA and Community Dispute Resolution Center staff have been busy advocating for additional funding for the statewide network to enhance capacity and reach of services. NYSDRA hosted two advocacy days on January 27th, and February 8th. Over the course of the legislative session, approximately 60 meetings were held with legislators to support our budget request of $1.5 million to fund 20 full-time equivalent positions across the state to increase staff capacity and community engagement. 

NYSDRA was successful for gaining the support of Senator Hoylman, Chair of the Judiciary Committee and Assemblymember Lavine, Chair of the Judiciary Committee to support our budget request through sign-on letters.  With the support of Senator Hoylman, we secured 12 Senators who signed-on to our supporting our budget request in the Senate. With the support of Assemblymember Lavine, we secured 16 signatures supporting our budget request in the Assembly. This support materialized into the Community Dispute Resolution Centers being specifically named in the Assembly’s One-House Budget Priorities!  We are hopeful that this will result in our budget request being included in the final State budget. 

Juvenile Justice Services – Raise the Age 
Raise the Age implementation funding available in the Governor’s proposed executive budget, and both one house bills, is $250 million. In mid-March, the Governor quietly released her public safety plan to several members of the legislature in hopes that they would be included in the final budget. The Governor’s proposed public safety plan rolled back portions of the Raise the Age statute which prevents 16-and 17 year olds from being prosecuted as adults, serving youth in Family Court and placed in youth justice programs and facilities. In response to the Governor’s proposed public safety plan to reduce gun violence, NYSDRA penned letters to the Governor, Majority Leader, Speaker, and every member of the legislature providing information about existing services and sought funding for Raise the Age implementation be carved out for centers. 

An excerpt of the letter is below:

“The centers cover every county and have provided critical de-escalation and dispute resolution services in courts and communities for more than 40 years. The centers are uniquely positioned to be part of the solution by continuing to provide preventative and responsive juvenile justice related programming with an existing statewide infrastructure of service providers... Now more than ever, young people need the skills and resources to effectively respond to conflict. By investing in public safety solutions, we can directly benefit young people and families by building resilient communities.”

As the budget negotiations come to a close, NYSDRA will provide updates on where the Community Dispute Resolution Centers stand in the final State budget.  

Pictured: Community Dispute Resolution Center Staff and NYSDRA Staff convene on February 8th for Lobby Day 2022 Meetings!