CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan recently spoke virtually with Gov. Kathy Hochul about issues concerning CSEA members across our state.
Sullivan and Hochul discussed issues such as workforce staffing, funding for local governments, tax relief for retirees and middle-class families and child care solutions. The governor highlighted proposals in her Executive Budget which offers real solutions to all those concerns.
Sullivan first pressed Hochul about how she plans to deal with persistent understaffing in state agencies, where workers are overwhelmed by the impacts of extreme short staffing.
“I’m sure you’re very, very aware how depleted our workforce has become … particularly in places where we are caring for people with developmental disabilities and that is dangerous,” Sullivan told Hochul. “[Understaffing] has created immense mandatory overtime that is really demoralizing for our workforce and it’s not healthy.”
Hochul responded that she was working on multiple initiatives that would recognize current workers for their hardships, fill state vacancies and even grow the state workforce. This includes actions she’s already taken like lifting the prior hiring freeze that had been in place.
“I can’t tell you the number of commissioners who called me, a couple of them in tears, so grateful that they’re finally going to be able to build the workforce that should have been there all this time,” Hochul said.
Hochul said she’s also focused on programs to boost recruitment, training and retention, particularly in health care positions, such as working to enhance pathways for young students from BOCES programs to careers.
“These are people we need to bring into the system, and [we need to]create an easier pipeline for them to move upward in health care particularly,” Hochul said “My $10 billion investment in health care actually addresses how it can take people from those positions to further educate them if they so choose.”
Hochul also mentioned ideas like making civil service examinations more accessible and improving workforce diversity.
Sullivan pointed out that the lack of affordable and available child care was holding people back from working, and that many CSEA-represented child care providers had left work due to the pandemic.
“We have had so many of our child care providers go out of business, because people can’t go back to work because they have to take care of their children and they can’t afford to pay for the child care that is available to them,” Sullivan said.
Hochul said that the crisis in child care existed before the pandemic. She’s proposed expanding access for the families of 400,000 children to affordable child care by raising income eligibility for families to receive tax benefits and subsidies. Hochul also proposed placing more on-site child care facilities at SUNY and CUNY campuses, among other locations.
“These are the essential workers for the essential workers,” Hochul said. “The essential workers don’t show up for work if there’s not someone watching their kids.”
Sullivan also asked the governor how she plans to address struggles facing local governments.
Hochul answered that she’s proposed restoring aid to local governments, as well as paying for a larger share of Medicaid funding and increasing aid to schools. “We’re actually going to have a positive impact about $2 billion dollars for municipalities and school districts in the next fiscal year alone,” she said.
Sullivan and Hochul also discussed the governor’s plan to relieve the tax burden on the middle class and retirees, which includes expediting tax cuts and property tax relief.
“A lot of support is out there to help all the people who are getting hit from so many fronts,” Hochul said. “The middle class is really under siege.”
Sullivan told Hochul she was impressed by her budget’s support for working families.
“You not only have addressed the issues that our CSEA members have as members of the workforce that work for you, but also you’ve addressed issues for them as citizens of New York and as taxpayers,” Sullivan said.
Above, CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan has a video conversation with Governor Kathy Hochul.
