Holding the Legislature Hostage: The Politics of Budget Delays

by Jennifer Watson

Every year, nonprofits across New York watch closely as the state budget process unfolds. For Independent Living Centers (ILCs), like STIC, the budget isn’t just a political event or an Albany negotiation cycle, it is the framework that determines whether critical services for people with disabilities can continue operating smoothly and sustainably. This year’s New York State budget process once again highlighted growing concerns about delayed budgets, centralized decision-making, and the increasing use of the budget process to advance major policy changes with limited transparency or public input..

CONTINUE READING

---

Why DEIA Will Not Go Away

By Shelby Warmbrodt

The ancient art of people erasure is still crude despite its lineage. Its most recent resurgence, the rollback of DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility) spearheaded by the highest levels of government, is daunting. At the same time, the path is clear. For just as the art of erasure endures, the art of resistance has flourished. We live in a golden age of underrepresented groups making their voices heard and presence felt. The legacies of fighting for civil rights, women’s rights, and human rights still remain in proud living memory..

 CONTINUE READING

---

The Albany Shuffle

by Sue Ruff 

Shuffle: Shuffle is a versatile word. It is both a verb and a noun, the verb denoting the action of shuffling, the noun denoting the act itself. The verb’s primary meaning is to mix items (notably playing cards) so that they are distributed randomly. It is also used to describe movement of feet along the ground without lifting them, due to that looking and sounding like the shuffling of playing cards. A rhythmic dance step, loose but elegant, can be described as a shuffle. Lastly, shuffle has a more general meaning, the rearrangement of people or objects into a new order, such as a leadership shuffle seen on an organizational chart. Choosing the word "shuffle" implies a disorderly or chaotic process, motion, or manner, while allowing that there might be an underlying design. Evasive behavior or speech may be described as a shuffle. We consider the benighted New York State Budget Process as the "Albany Shuffle."..