CPC Statement on Governor’s FY27 Executive Budget

New York, NY – On Tuesday, January 20, the Governor released New York State’s $260 billion FY27 Executive Budget, which includes important investments aimed at addressing the affordability crisis facing New Yorkers. While we recognize these steps, we must also ensure that the AAPI Equity Budget and adequate investments for social services programs and workers are included in the final adopted budget. This funding has been critical to sustaining services for Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), immigrant, and low-income communities at a time when need is rapidly increasing.

Across New York, community-based organizations are experiencing unprecedented demand for food assistance, housing support, legal services, childcare, and workforce programs. These pressures are being compounded by an increasingly hostile federal environment that is placing immigrant families and communities of color at greater risk. At this moment, the absence of targeted investments in AAPI and immigrant communities threatens the stability of essential services that thousands of New Yorkers rely on every day.

“We are in a period of great uncertainty for immigrant and low-income communities, driven by federal actions that are destabilizing families, targeting immigrants, and stripping away basic protections,” said Wayne Ho, President & CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC). “At the same time, community-based organizations are being asked to do more than ever before, responding to rising food insecurity, housing instability, workforce disruptions, and fear within our neighborhoods, without the resources needed to meet this surge in demand. Our State must step up where the federal government is failing. That means making sustained, targeted investments in service organizations and workers  that are holding the social safety net together. Our communities cannot afford half measures at this moment.”

CPC is encouraged to see the Governor’s commitment to begin the process of transitioning to EBT chip cards, an important step given the disproportionate impact of SNAP theft on immigrant and low-income communities. We are grateful for the Governor’s commitment to working class families with investments to universal childcare, immigrant legal services, and critical food programs. 

Because more is needed to meet the scale of the current crisis, we urge the State to include the following in the FY27 budget: 

• Enact a 2.7% Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII) to support all human services workers and ensure fair compensation for essential workers who are already stretched thin.

• Invest $54.35 million in the AAPI Equity Budget so community-based organizations can address anti-Asian violence and meet urgent community needs.

• Pass the Universal Childcare Act to create a truly accessible childcare system that supports working families, stabilizes the childcare workforce, and ensures quality care for all children.

• Pass the Protect, Invest, and Expand Food Security Package to strengthen food programs and distribution networks so that no New Yorker goes hungry.

• Invest $175 million in immigration legal services through the Office of New Americans to meet soaring demand for representation and counsel.

• Pass the Access to Representation Act to ensure immigrants facing detention and deportation have legal representation

• Pass the New York for All Act to ensure increased protection for immigration New Yorkers, especially as they interact with State government

• Pass the Building Up Immigrant Legal Defense (BUILD) Act to expand and stabilize legal defense infrastructure statewide.

• Increase funding for the Housing Access Voucher Program to $250 million and make the program permanent to address escalating housing instability.

• Pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) to give tenants a meaningful opportunity to collectively purchase their buildings and preserve affordability.

• Expand Rent Stabilization statewide to protect tenants from excessive rent increases and displacement.

• Invest in Social Housing by developing publicly backed, permanently affordable housing insulated from market volatility and governed with resident input.

• Invest in critical human services programming by funding the Settlement House Program at $5 million; include a Direct Support Wage Enhancement (DSWE) to increase hourly pay for Direct Support workers in I/DD; restoring the Open-Ended Preventive/Protective Services State-funded portion to 65/35 as well as investing $17 million to raise wages for foster care workers; and investing $15 million in Adult Literacy Education (ALE).

CPC looks forward to working in partnership with the State Legislature and the Governor’s Office to ensure that the final budget fully reflects the scale of need facing AAPI, immigrant, and low-income communities and delivers the investments required to keep New Yorkers safe, housed, and supported during this critical moment.
 

ABOUT CPC
Founded in 1965, CPC is a social services organization that creates social change. Building on our historic legacy and ongoing dedication to the Chinese American community, CPC advances the social and economic progress of immigrant and low-income communities of New York through services, resources, and advocacy.

關於華策會
華策會成立於1965年，是一個致力於推動社會變革的社會服務機構。秉承深厚的歷史傳承與對華裔美國社區的持續承諾，華策會透過多元服務、資源援助與公共倡議，促進紐約移民及低收入社區的社會與經濟發展。

ACERCA DE CPC
Fundada en 1965, CPC es una organización de servicios sociales que promueve el cambio social. Basándose en su legado histórico y su compromiso continuo con la comunidad chino-estadounidense, CPC impulsa el progreso social y económico de las comunidades inmigrantes y de bajos ingresos de Nueva York a través de servicios, recursos y acciones de incidencia.