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Governor Cuomo Announces New York State to End Finger Imaging Requirement for Food Stamp Recipients ()
Governor Delivers on State of the State Promise to Remove Barriers to Participation in Food Stamp Program. New Anti-Fraud System Less Costly and More Effective at Preventing Abuse than Finger Imaging.
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New Survey of Housing Counselors Points to Banks Failures in Compliance with Foreclosure Prevention (California Reinvestment Coalition)
A new survey of housing counselors in California reveals the failure of banks to comply with policies and programs that would help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
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SafeRx legislation passes as part of state budget (The Daily Record)
The final state budget passed last week included approval of SafeRx legislation designed to make prescription drug labels easier to understand for people with limited English, people with disabilities and seniors.
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NYS Foreclosure Prevention Services Progam Campaign Celebrates Albany Collaboration to Restore Funding
The New York State Foreclosure Prevention Services campaign today thanks and applauds the groundbreaking agreement among Governor Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the New York State Legislature to provide six months of critical funding for the statewide Foreclosure Prevention Services Program in the FY 2012-13 budget.
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Significant Victories in State Budget to Benefit Struggling New Yorkers
After an initial review of the budget agreement struck by the Governor and Legislative leaders this week, the Empire Justice Center declared victory on several important initiatives that will have a positive impact on New Yorkers who are struggling financially.
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A.G. Schneiderman Announces Up To $15 Million Of National Mortgage Settlement To Extend Funding For Foreclosure Prevention And Other Related Services (NYS Attorney General)
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that up to $15 million of the $132 million he secured in the national mortgage servicing settlement will be used to extend funding for foreclosure prevention and other related services.
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Albany is playing games with health exchange legislation (Democrat & Chronicle)
New York needs an exchange that will fit our unique and complicated health insurance landscape in order to maximize the number of people who will gain coverage.
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NYS Foreclosure Prevention Services Program Campaign Applauds Efforts to Restore Funding
The New York State Foreclosure Prevention Services Campaign today applauded the New York State Legislature for its efforts to restore funding for the statewide Foreclosure Prevention Services Program in the FY 2012-13 budget.
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Squadron, De Blasio, Advocates Rally for Passage of Bill to End Food Stamp Finger Imaging (NYS Senator Daniel Squadron)
Squadron Legislation to Come to Senate Committee Vote on Tuesday as Governor, Electeds Continue Fight to End Practice
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Food stamp fingerprinting ensnares thousands of applicants (The New York World)
This week, four state senators from New York City – Daniel Squadron, Liz Krueger, Tom Duane and Kevin Parker – have moved for a hearing on a bill that would forbid any requirement for finger-scans as a condition of receceiving food stamps.
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Aging & Health Groups Call on Governor Cuomo to Restore Harsh Cuts to Senior Rx Program
Senior advocates, pharmacists, aging and health care counselors, and cancer prevention organizations are calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to restore copayment assistance to older New Yorkers who are enrolled in the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program.
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A.G. Schneiderman Secures $136 Million for Struggling New York Homeowners in Mortgage Servicing Settlement (Office of the Attorney General)
Winning his long, persistent demand that a wide array of sweeping civil and criminal claims not be released without investigation, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today a $136 million settlement for New York with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses, the most per “underwater” borrower of any state in the nation, and the fourth highest dollar amount nationwide as part of the federal-state settlement.
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A.G. Schneiderman Secures $136 Million For Struggling New York Homeowners In Mortgage Servicing Settlement (NYS Attorney General)
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today a $136 million settlement for New York with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses.
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Push to Avert Foreclosures Hits Court Logjam (The New York Times)
Courts statewide have been mired in often hopeless cases involving loans that have left bus drivers and grocery clerks, among others, owing $700,000 or more on homes that have fallen in value.
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Foreclosure Dispatches: Views From Around the Country (Huffington Post)
Dispatch #1: Sarah Ludwig and Josh Zinner, Co-Directors, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) in New York City
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Seniors struggling after Rx program changes (Democrat & Chronicle)
A month after changes to New York's Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage program, senior citizens around the state are having trouble covering the cost of their prescription drugs.
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Foreclosure Prevention Services Funding Campaign Rally & Press Conference
On January 31st, advocates from across New York gathered in The Well of the Legislative Office Building to rally for funding for the vital services they provide to homeowners facing foreclosure.
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Rally against Foreclosure Prevention cuts (YNN)
Homeowners in crisis were looking for a little help at the state capitol on Tuesday. Some fear proposed state budget cuts could trigger more home foreclosures.
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Non-profits, lawmakers want foreclosure-prevention funds in budget (Politics on the Hudson)
Non-profit groups that provide counseling and legal services to homeowners at risk of foreclosure and a number of lawmakers are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to include $25 million in the state budget to continue the statewide Foreclosure Prevention Services Program.
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Groups seek to help stressed homeowners (Democrat and Chronicle)
Nonprofit groups that provide counseling and legal services to homeowners are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to include $25 million in the state budget to continue the Foreclosure Prevention Services Program.
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Thousands of Distressed Homeowners Will Be Left in the Lurch by Imminent Loss of State Funding for Foreclosure Prevention
Elected Officials, Advocates and Homeowners Call for Funding in New York State’s Budget for Foreclosure Prevention
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‘The Capitol Pressroom’ with Susan Arbetter (WNYC- The Empire)
Listen to Kirsten Keefe, our senior staff attorney with the Consumer Housing, C.A.S.H. and Community Development Unit in the Albany office as well as Hilary Lamishaw, housing counselor at TRIP/ NeighborWorks Alliance NYS react to the Governor's budget proposal.
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NEIGHBORHOODS: Little-noticed cuts may hurt neighborhoods (City Newspaper)
The state's Foreclosure Prevention Services Program provided grants to legal aid groups and housing organizations to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. The program's out of money, however, and Cuomo's proposal doesn't include new funding.
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Winners, losers react to funding in governor's budget plan (WNYT Newschannel 13)
Zip, as in zero, said Kirsten Keefe of the Empire Justice Center. That's what was in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget plan when it comes to foreclosure prevention help in next year's budget.
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Foreclosure services seen at risk in budget (Newsday)
Homeowner advocates said Tuesday that an array of counseling and legal assistance programs for people facing foreclosure is endangered by cuts in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's proposed state budget.
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Empire Justice IDs key issues for 2012 (The Daily Record)
One of Empire Justice Center’s top issues of 2012 received Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s support when, in his state of the state address earlier this month, the governor announced he wanted to stop the practice of fingerprinting those who apply for food stamps.
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State Money Will Help Replace U.S. Funds for Foreclosure Aid (New York Law Journal)
Legal service providers apparently have made up approximately $2.3 million of the $22 million that they expect to lose for their foreclosure prevention programs as the federal stimulus money that has financed the work dries up.
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Schneiderman’s Foreclosure Program Wins Plaudits (Capital Tonight)
As New York braces for what’s expected to be a new wave of foreclosure this year, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a $1 million program designed to stem that potential tide.
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Bringing the Mayor to Heel (City & State)
Choose your metaphor: When Gov. Andrew Cuomo roused a crowd in Albany last week by promising to stop fingerprinting food stamp applicants, was he stepping on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s toes or kicking him in the shin?
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Empire Justice Statement on Governor Cuomo’s State of the State Address
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Seniors’ drug costs likely to spike under new rules (Daily Gazette)
Drastic changes to the state’s supplemental drug program for seniors will result in higher out-of-pocket costs for enrollees, warn advocates for elderly and low-income state residents.
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Opinion: NY must keep helping homeowners (Newsday)
After the nation's housing bubble burst in 2008, New York State took action to address the foreclosure crisis crippling housing markets and devastating low-income communities. The state invested in an innovative, collaborative web of programs to provide housing counseling and legal services to New Yorkers confronted with the loss of their homes. But now that funding is set to expire.
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Cuomo Urged to “Clear Red Tape” for New Yorkers Seeking Food Help in 2012 (Public News Service)
Not quite the holiday spirit. That's what a new report says about New York's fingerprinting requirement for food stamps, which it says is causing the wrong people to go hungry.
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AARP and Empire Justice Center Press Release: Time to Leave Finger Prints Behind
Announcing the release of "Time to Leave Finger Prints Behind, Fair Hearings in NYC Show How Unfair Finger Imaging is for New Yorkers
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Listen to our Kirsten Keefe on Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter (WCNY)
A Senior Staff Attorney at Empire Justice Center's Albany office, Kirsten Keefe will discuss the Attorney General's fight against a mortgage settlement with banks, voters growing outrage at being refused mortgage refinancing by banks that took bail outs any why municipalities across NY are moving their business to smaller banking institutions.
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Senate Stalemate Over CFPB Nominee is Hurting Consumers (Consumer's Union)
The continuing stalemate in the Senate over Richard Cordray’s nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is leaving seniors, students, servicemembers and other consumers at risk to costly financial scams, according to Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports.
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Foreclosure Prevention Programs Urge State to Pick Up Funding (New York Law Journal)
Foreclosures have slowed to a crawl in the last year as lenders coped with accusations of slipshod procedures and the state courts imposed a requirement that attorneys and lenders attest to the accuracy of their filings. But that breathing space is about to end, court officials say.
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Statewide Campaign to Save the Foreclosure Prevention Services Program Press Release re: Assembly Hearing
Campaign members traveled from all over the state to New York City to testify at Assembly Hearings on Foreclosure to underscore the critical role funding from the Foreclosure Prevention Services Program plays in allowing them to help save homes in their communities.
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Five myths about Dodd-Frank (The Washington Post)
After a worldwide financial meltdown — and a $700 billion taxpayer-funded bailout — the need for common-sense financial reforms was clear. But now, even though the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010...is only beginning to take effect, critics are launching false attacks against the law in an effort to undermine it.
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For More and More Low-Income New Yorkers, Civil Legal Services Are Just Out of Reach (WNYC News)
With the impact of the economic crisis and one in five New Yorkers now living in poverty, the need for civil legal services will increase.
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Judge Calls Off Eviction of Rochester Woman, For Now (YNN)
Rochester homeowner avoids eviction with the help of housing counselors.
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Help needed for grandparents caring for their grandchildren (Legislative Gazette)
AARP and kincare advocates urged Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a July 19 letter, to find funding to maintain programs they say are critical for children cared for by non-parent relatives.
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Elizabeth Warren, Champion of Consumer Financial Protection (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Banks don't trust her. Republicans won't confirm her. Yet she's already won her battle to remake how America borrows.
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Thousands caught in foreclosure (Times Herald-Record)
Across Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties, thousands of families have already lost their homes, and thousands more face the prospect of eviction in coming years, as the worst housing crisis in decades plays out across the region.
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LI foreclosure filings at twice state rate (Newsday.com)
Long Island homeowners received foreclosure-related filings at twice the statewide rate in the three years following the 2007 collapse of the subprime lending market, the state comptroller reported Tuesday.
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Innovative Legislation to Preserve Child Care Subsidies (New York Nonprofit Press)
Advocates are urging state lawmakers to support an innovative legislative proposal that would preserve child care subsidies for low-income working families, despite a $55 million cut to funding in this year’s budget.
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Albany Bill Would Let Check-Cashers Provide Loans (City Limits)
The Senate and Assembly banking committees have both approved a bill to permit check-cashing outlets to provide short-term loans. Backers say it offers financing to those whom regular banks don't serve. Critics say it would permit exploitative “payday” lending.
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NYS Senate Advances Bill that Would Open Door to Predatory Lending
New Yorkers for Responsible Lending, a statewide coalition of 151 groups, called on the state Senate today to withdraw a bill that would permit check cashers to make usurious small-dollar loans, and would open the door to predatory payday lending, which the state has long prohibited.
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Budget Cuts Imperil Legal Aid in Foreclosure Cases (The New York Times)
The state’s budget squeeze has put at risk more than 120 legal aid and homeowner-counseling agencies across the state that have provided a last-ditch legal and economic lifeline to thousands of distressed homeowners.
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Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman: Fix 'fundamental failure' in NY court rooms (Legislative Gazette)
New York is not living up to its U.S. Supreme Court-mandated responsibility to provide legal defense services for all, according to the state's top judge.
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Consumer protection bureau faces challenges (The Daily Record)
Victims of deceptive financial loans and products thought they finally had some federal protection with the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but the CFPB is threatened even before it is officially launched.
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More cuts hit foreclosure prevention assistance (The Daily Record)
Monroe County loses its foreclosure settlement conference referee due to court budget cuts.
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Cuomo vetoes pay for foreclosure prevention services (The Business Review)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s veto of $1.5 million to pay for foreclosure prevention services in New York shocked housing advocates who say the program is vital to help struggling homeowners.
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Veto of Foreclosure Prevention Services Severs Lifeline for Homeowners
Legal services and housing counseling providers across the state decried Governor Cuomo’s veto of $1.5 million in foreclosure prevention services funding which was put in the budget by the Assembly Majority in a last ditch effort to keep the program alive through the end of the state fiscal year.
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Advocacy group laments loss of foreclosure services funds (Daily Gazette)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing to cut funding for foreclosure prevention services at a time when data indicate the number of homes in foreclosure will greatly accelerate in coming months, according to an advocacy group.
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69,000 NY home loans at risk of foreclosure (The Business Review)
Nearly 69,000 home loans in New York are at imminent risk of foreclosure, a situation that an advocacy group said today could lead to a “tsunami” of foreclosures over the next year or two.
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New Wave of Protests Fighting Banksters (The Notion: The Nation's Group Blog)
The Empire Justice Center is predicting a “tsunami” of foreclosures coming, and Bank of America is refusing to write down mortgage debt. Republicans in Congress want to eliminate the Home Affordable Modification Program, which helps people keep their homes and Democrats are flagging in their support.
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Tardy loans cause alarm (Times Union)
Advocacy group seeks funds to aid homeowners facing foreclosure
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717 more LI homes in foreclosure process (Newsday)
More than 700 mortgage borrowers fell into the foreclosure process on Long Island last month, according to a report released Thursday that also showed the pace of home repossessions slowing.
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Foreclosure crisis entering a new phase (The Daily Record)
Dr. Barbara van Kerkhove, Research and Policy Analyst at the Empire Justice Center recently published an exhaustive report on the state’s foreclosure crisis. The report indicates the state is nowhere near the end of the foreclosure crisis, which now includes those homeowners with good credit and prime loans.
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New Wave of Protests Fighting Banksters (The Notion: The Nation's Group Blog)
The Empire Justice Center is predicting a “tsunami” of foreclosures coming, and Bank of America is refusing to write down mortgage debt. Republicans in Congress want to eliminate the Home Affordable Modification Program, which helps people keep their homes and Democrats are flagging in their support.
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Group: State faces 'tsunami' of home foreclosures (Ithaca Journal)
A legal aid advocacy group said Wednesday that despite the recent decline in foreclosures across the state, homeowners could face a "tsunami" of bank actions this year. Housing counselors for the Empire Justice Center were in Albany to lobby the Legislature to restore $15 million in cuts that go to fund legal assistance for homeowners whose loans are in the process of foreclosure.
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Foreclosure prevention group seeks $15M in state funding (The Business Review)
Housing advocates will be at the Capitol in Albany, New York, today asking legislators to set aside $15 million in the budget to continue a foreclosure prevention program that will run out of money this year.
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Forecast for New York: “Tsunami” of Foreclosures (Public News Service)
Nearly 69,000 home loans statewide are at imminent risk of foreclosure in New York, and the majority of them are prime, rather than subprime or 'alt-A' loans.
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Flood of Foreclosures Expected Just as Funding to Help Homeowners Dries Up
New analysis of data from the Federal Reserve of New York shows that the foreclosure crisis in New York is far from over – and without legislative action to provide funding for the state’s “Foreclosure Prevention Services Program,” thousands of homeowners will have little help in saving their homes when foreclosure strikes.
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Advocates for Seniors Warn About Eliminating EPIC (WAMC Northeast Public Radio)
Advocates for Senior citizens are calling on the New York State Legislature to reject cuts to prescription drug coverage by preserving the existing "EPIC" program - Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
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Advocacy groups say seniors can’t afford proposed prescription-benefit cuts (Politics on the Hudson)
AARP, the Empire Justice Center, Selfhelp Community Services and Statewide Senior Action are urging the Legislature to reject Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to cut the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage—EPIC—program, which has been in place for 25 years.
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Advocates warn about loss of drug cost subsidy
Seniors below a $35,000 annual income for singles and $50,000 for couples face the elimination of help paying for life-extending prescriptions under Gov. Cuomo's proposed budget.
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“Perfect Storm” Threatens to Sink NY Foreclosure Fighters (Public News Service)
New Yorkers fighting foreclosure are facing a "perfect storm" as a state budget crunch could wipe out free foreclosure counseling and assistance just as the recession threatens more mortgage-holders' ability to stay above water.
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Making Sense of Mandates: Special Education's Burden of Proof (WXXI GoPublic)
Every year new mandates are added to an already extensive list that school districts throughout the state are required to follow. But some educators say the real issue, when it comes to mandatory requirements in education, lies with Special Education.
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New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo's State of the State speech impresses listeners (The Oneida Daily Dispatch)
Though the annual speech is normally given at the Capitol, Gov. Andrew Cuomo moved it to the Empire State Convention Center venue as a metaphor to get more non-elected officials involved.
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JUSTICE: More Legal Help for Low-Income New Yorkers? (City Newspaper)
In Rochester, the Empire Justice Center and the Legal Aid Society are turning away more than half of the people seeking services, simply because they don't have the necessary staff, says Bryan Hetherington, chief counsel for Empire Justice Center.
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Advocates: What Cuomo Could Get Done In 100 Days (Politics on the Hudson )
Good-government and environmental protection groups want Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo to issue a series of executive orders in his first 100 days as a way to get the ball rolling on changing the state.
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IOLA Fund Hits New Low (The Daily Record)
Legal providers say Campaign for Justice takes on new meaning.
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Tenants do have rights if foreclosure looms (Times Union)
Tenants are the invisible victims of the mortgage crises, with very few advocates.
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Need a Lawyer? Good Luck (New York Times)
New York’s Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman’s call for adequate stable funding for civil legal services gets support from the New York Times.
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NY Joins National Foreclosure Work Group (The Daily Record)
New York is joining the rest of the nation in a bipartisan mortgage foreclosure working group being led by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.
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Officials: Help poor in civil cases (Times Union)
Top officials from the Capital Region's legal and political worlds told the state's most powerful judge Tuesday more money is needed to fund legal representation of the poor in civil cases, calling it a cost-saving measure.
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Tell it to the Judge – NY's Top Jurist on a Mission (Public News Service)
Giving new meaning to the term "judicial activism," the chief judge of New York state is heading an unprecedented effort to help those who can't afford to hire a lawyer in civil cases.
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Local Residents Explain Need for Legal Services (WXXI )
New York's Chief Judge is traveling the state, trying to find out what people do when they need a lawyer -- but can't afford one.
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Legal Aid for the Poor in Dire Shape (City Newspaper)
New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman hasn't been shy about his desire to increase the availability of civil legal services to the poor. He's formed a task force and is holding public hearings to gather testimony to bolster his plans.
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Advocates Call on Fed to Put a Stop to Discriminatory Lending (CNBC)
Community Coalition Calls for Increased Transparency in Mortgage Lending. A coalition of community groups called on the Federal Reserve Board to overhaul a 35-year old law that requires lenders to report vital information on their mortgage lending practices.
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Rent-to-own law worries consumer advocates (Buffalo News)
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.
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Both sides weigh in on rent-to-own bill: Governor must sign or veto bill by Friday (Buffalo News)
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.
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EPA Recognizes the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning for Outstanding Community Leadership (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
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.
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The Case of the Disappearing NY Legal Services? (Public News Service)
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.
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New Report Finds More Families in Need (YNN)
Many of New York's families are struggling to make ends meet. That's according to a new study by the Fiscal Policy Institute and Community Action Association, which calculates the cost of living for working families all over the state.
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Chief Judge Lippman calls for change in legal aid (The Daily Record)
New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, in Rochester on June 10, called for systemic change in the delivery of civil legal representation for the state’s poor.
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Chief Judge Lippman Names 28 to Task Force to Expand Access to Legal Services (New York Law Journal)
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has named 28 people to a task force charged with spearheading a court-led effort to secure adequate state funding for the representation of low-income New Yorkers in civil cases.
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State Bar Urges Vital Funding for Civil Legal Services to be Included in Emergency Budget Appropriations (New York State Bar Association)
President Getnick Renews the Call to Ensure Access to Justice for all New Yorkers.
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The Right to, and Need for, Counsel (New York Times)
New York Times editorial on the state's constitutional duty to provide counsel as affirmed by the State Court of Appeals and Chief Judge Lippman.
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Is a New State Law Curbing Home Foreclosures? (Times Union)
New York’s tough new foreclosure law might be cutting the number of foreclosures in the state — at least temporarily.
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Legal Aid Pinched: Civil Law Advocates are Vulnerable to Boom and Bust Cycles (Syracuse Post Standard)
For too long, civil legal services in New York state have been vulnerable to boom and bust cycles.
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The Price of Justice for All (Times Union)
Captial District attorney Paul Harding pens Op Ed in support of civil legal services and the critical need for funding in the state budget.
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Press Release: Paying More for the American Dream IV
Study finds TARP-supported banks reduced lending to communities of color dramatically in Rochester, New York and six other cities across the nation.
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Top New York Judge Urges Greater Legal Rights for the Poor (New York Times)
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman calls for greater access to justice for New York's poor.
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Empire Justice Joins with Better Choice Budget Campain in Calling for State to Balance Budget by Raising Revenues, Not Cutting by Critical Services (A Better Choice for New York)
Campaign launches TV ads focused on closing corporate tax loopholes and asking wall street to help bail out Main Street.
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Banking on Hypocrisy (Politico)
While American families have made clear that they overwhelmingly support the reforms that a new consumer financial protection agency will produce — like clear, understandable terms and conditions for consumer credit products and accountability for the big banks — the lobbyists have made equally clear their plan to kill the agency.
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New Law Protects Credit Cardholders (YNN Rochester)
Signed into law by the President, the Credit Card Bill of Rights will ban certain unfair and deceptive fees and rate increases.
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Bar Association wants justice for all in 2010 (Legislative Gazette)
On the top of the Bar Association's list of state legislative priorities is a call for the governor and state lawmakers to ensure adequate resources are provided for the justice system so that the courts will be able to adequately serve New Yorkers, especially those living on low incomes.
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Fate of $15 mil. for Civil Legal Services in Lawmakers' hands (Legislative Gazette)
It is now up to the Legislature to decide whether the state will provide a fiscal crutch for a diminishing fund that helps New Yorkers pay for civil legal services they might otherwise be unable to afford.
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Empire Justice Center Releases 'Mending the Patchwork' Report
A report examining county by county inequities in child care subsidy administration in New York State.
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Media Advisory: Access to Child Care Assistance Varies Wildly Across the State
NEW REPORT: Access to Child Care Assistance Varies Wildly Across the State - Families With Same Income, Number of Kids Treated Differently Just Because They Live in a Different County!
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New Law Mandates Settlement Conferences in All Foreclosure Cases (Nassau Lawyer)
New laws now require all lenders seeking to foreclose mortgages to participate in a settlement conference in court.
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One in Every Seven (Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson)
Senator calls for New Yorkers to pay attention to IOLA crisis and the need to invest in civil legal services.
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Fund that Pays for Low-Income Legal Services Spirals Downward (Legislative Gazette)
This year's economic crisis and historically low interest rates have reduced by 75 percent a fund that assists organizations that help New York's less affluent residents pay for legal services in civil proceedings.
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New York's Budget Negotiation Should Not Jeopardize Critical Medicaid Services for Vulnerable New Yorkers
Cuts to so-called Optional Medicaid Services are not optional at all.
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Empire Justice Joins Advocates to Decry Mid-Year Cuts
Press release announcing the press conference organized by New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, the Fiscal Policy Institute, Empire Justice Center and others to talk about alternatives to Governor Paterson's proposed DRP.
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The Good We Do: Access to Justice (The New York Law Journal)
This is no exaggeration: legal aid for the poor is in a state of crisis. According to the federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC), it is estimated that one in two low-income Americans seeking legal help will be turned away this year.
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New Law Expands Protections for Domestic Violence Survivors (examiner.com)
A new civil rights law will provide domestic violence survivors even greater protection and confidentiality.
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Governor Paterson Issues Executive Order 21 Establishing the Governor's Task Force on the Prevention of Childhood Lead Poisoning (NYS Governer's website)
State Agencies Will Collaborate on the Development of a Coordinated Strategy to Eradicate Childhood Exposure to Lead
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Advocates Applaud the Governor and the Legislature for Approving a Budget that Maintains Access to Vital Prescription Drug Benefits for Seniors
The 2009-2010 State Budget acknowledges the difficulties low-income seniors face obtaining prescriptions through Medicare Part D plans.
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Press Release - Paying More for the American Dream III
This report examines the impact of CRA in seven metropolitan areas in the United States: Chicago; New York City; Los Angeles; Rochester, NY; Boston; Charlotte, and Cleveland.
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Bank development program is being evaluated (The Buffalo News)
Support for maintaining and even expanding the state’s Banking Development District program appeared strong at a public hearing in Buffalo Monday, but those testifying just couldn’t agree on how to do it.
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Demand for Legal Services Outpacing Available Service (The Record)
With unemployment and poverty on the rise amid an economic downturn, a growing number of poor New Yorkers will find that funding for legal services they may need is not increasing to compensate for demand.
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Cutbacks Could Leave Thousands of New Yorkers Alone in Court (Public News Service)
The courtroom soon could become a more lonely place for many New Yorkers, if budget cutbacks leave hundreds of thousands of people without the lawyers once provided by the state for civil cases.
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Statement on Governor Paterson’s Investment in Civil Legal Services
The legal services community applauds Gov. Paterson for acting so quickly to address the growing need for access to justice. The Governor's action today through his 30 day amendment to restore a basic level of funding for civil legal services indicates a strong level of support from the Governor and demonstrates a working partnership with the Legislature to restore funding for these critical services.
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Civil Legal Services Advocates Respond to Gov. Paterson’s State of the State Address
Complete Elimination of Civil Legal Services Hurts Low-Income New Yorkers and New York’s Economy
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Legal Aid Cuts: State funds don't go far enough, and may shrink further (Syrcause.com)
According to some estimates, no more than one out of five eligible people in Central New York receives legal aid services that can mean the difference between self-reliance and indigence. The others are left on their own to deal with evictions, wills, child custody and support, domestic violence, immigration issues and navigating the parole system and appeals process.
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Disclosure of Coverage Data Could Benefit All (The Buffalo News)
These are the very claims that were made by mortgage lenders more than 30 years ago when the federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act was passed. Today, however, annual public disclosure of mortgage lending data by census tract is just part of doing business.
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Empire Justice Center Praises State Senate For Acting to Stop Thousands of Children from Being Poisoned by Lead in their Homes Each Year
Empire Justice Center advocates applauded the State Senate today for passing the Childhood Lead Poisoning Primary Prevention and Safe Housing Act (S.6350/A.6399), a landmark bill to identify housing with lead hazards and provide tax credits to prevent thousands of children in New York from being permanently and irreversibly damaged by lead poisoning.
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Spitzer State of the State Message Brings Message of Hope and Unity
Advocates from the Empire Justice Center expressed optimism as they watched Governor’s Spitzer’s State of the State address today.
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Advocates Applaud Governor Spitzer
Advocates Applaud Governor Spitzer Proposing Needed Improvements in Health Coverage, Housing and Increasing Child Support to Low Income Children in a Difficult Budget Year.
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Report Highlights Racial Disparities in Mortgage Lending By Country’s Largest Lenders
Today at the Federal Reserve Board Consumer Advisory Council meeting, a collaboration of advocacy agencies, including Empire Justice Center, released a report showing that the largest lenders making both prime and subprime loans have a disproportionate share of their higher cost loans going to minority borrowers across the nation.
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We Need to do More to Help Less Fortunate (The Record)
There have been many examples over the past few decades of New York falling behind other states in various areas. One more is the lack of proper funding for civil legal services for the indigent.
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Legal Aid Optimistic that Spitzer will Fatten Coffers (The Record)
Public funding of legal representation for the indigent in Civil Court cases was largely pioneered in New York state, supporters say, but the concept has largely stalled out in recent years, leaving the state far behind many others that help the poor pay to have their cases heard.
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An Investment In Legal Services (New York Times)
Legal Services of the Hudson Valley is grateful for your strong editorial supporting inclusion of adequate funding for statewide civil legal services in Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget (''Justice for the Poor,'' Jan. 7).
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Justice for the Poor (New York Times)
Government has a critical obligation to provide adequate civil legal services for the poor, who would otherwise lack access to lawyers to resolve problems that could easily upend already tenuous lives, in areas like spousal and elderly abuse, child support, housing and disability issues.
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N.Y. banks want to rip you off (Drum Major Institute for Public Policy)
Banks chartered in New York want permission to offer courtesy overdraft protection, whether customers want it or not. The industry says this will be great for customers, but in fact depositors will be whacked with huge fees.
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Children in Poverty: Statewide Numbers Mask Local Realities
The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance recently announced that childhood poverty is at its lowest level since 1980. While the statewide data is accurate, they potentially mask disturbing county-by-county trends in child poverty.
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