Governor Paterson Names Advisory Committee to Help Health Care Reform Cabinet ()

August 31, 2010
Governor David A. Paterson today named 37 organizations to the Health Care Reform Advisory Committee, which will provide input to the Governor's Health Care Reform Cabinet on the implementation of federal health care reform in New York State. The Advisory Committee includes organizations representing health care providers, consumers, businesses, organized labor, local governments, health plans and health insurers, and health policy experts. Read More

State's finance score above average (Democrat and Chronicle)

August 29, 2010
Consumers in New York are faring better than those in 30 other states, though New York is still considered distressed by a nonprofit credit counseling firm. Read More

Rent-to-own law worries consumer advocates (Buffalo News)

August 8, 2010
Imagine a special retail business where management can legally mark up their prices on consumer goods by almost 500 percent, and people still readily shop there for big-screen TV's. Read More

Katie Courtney Selected by NY Daily Record as 2010 Up & Coming Attorney

August 3, 2010
Empire Justice Center's Katie Courtney selected as 2010 Up and Coming attorney by The Daily Record. Read More

Both sides weigh in on rent-to-own bill: Governor must sign or veto bill by Friday (Buffalo News)

July 29, 2010
David A. Paterson is reviewing a bill that supporters say would protect consumers by providing more structure and disclosure for “rent-to-own” contracts. Critics, however, say the law would legalize predatory pricing and practices. Read More

State Budget Hurts Social Services

July 27, 2010
A number of non-profits are calling on the Legislature to restore millions of dollars in member items vetoed by the governor. Read More

Rochester-area anti-lead fighters honored (Democrat and Chronicle)

July 21, 2010
Calling the community effort to reduce and try to eradicate the problem of lead poisoning a model for the country, a representative of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented an award recognizing health improvements and a sense of justice. Read More

EPA Recognizes the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning for Outstanding Community Leadership (United States Environmental Protection Agency)

July 21, 2010
The Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning has been selected as a winner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Justice Achievement Award for its leadership in community-based efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning in the city of Rochester, New York. Read More

The Case of the Disappearing NY Legal Services? (Public News Service)

July 14, 2010
The providers of civil legal services for those who can't afford a lawyer to fight such things as foreclosure, eviction, and denial of benefits say they are in trouble. They say the public protection budget bills passed by the New York Legislature this spring include a devastating 70 percent cut in funding. Read More

Time running out for Haitians to apply for protected status (The Journal News)

July 12, 2010
Little more than 100 Haitian nationals living in Rockland — far fewer than predicted — have applied for a federal program that would have spared them from being deported while being able to provide for their families in their earthquake-ravaged homeland. Read More