Invest in Our New York

 

The Labor-Religion Coalition is a member of the Invest in Our New York Coalition. For decades, corporate-aligned elected officials have underinvested in working-class communities and instead prioritized the interests and desires of greedy corporations and the ultra-rich. 

We also believe that every New Yorker deserves to breathe clean air, live in safe and affordable housing, receive a high-quality public education, access comprehensive healthcare and universal childcare, and live in well-resourced communities on a livable planet.

As such, the Invest in Our New York Coalition is working to create a different New York, where everyone has what they need to build a foundation to thrive. The Invest in Our New York Campaign aims to support every New Yorker and our communities by:

 

• Increasing taxes on New York’s wealthiest and biggest corporations to ensure they pay what they owe
   

• Putting forward a plan for state spending that prioritizes the needs of low-income and working-class people, communities of color, and New Yorkers most impacted by the affordability crisis; and
   

• Shifting the state’s economic development efforts away from corporate giveaways and instead toward resourcing our public programs.

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#EndMedicalDebt Campaign

 

Health care is a human right—yet the U.S. healthcare system doesn't treat it that way.

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One of the consequences of our profit-driven system is that many people go into debt and face financial devastation because they needed medical care. From 2015 to 2020, over 53,000 New Yorkers were sued by hospitals—all of which are non-profit charities. Thousands of New Yorkers have had property liens placed on their homes or had their wages garnished because of medical debt and six percent of New Yorkers have been put into collections over medical bills; and those numbers are double and even quadruple for people of color in parts of the state.

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New Yorkers have had enough. In 2022, in response to pressure from the End Medical Debt Campaign, the New York State Legislature passed two bills to help lift the burden of medical debt, including ending the practice of garnishing wages or placing home liens due to medical debt. This year, the End Medical Debt Campaign is calling on them to pass another critical bill: the "Ounce of Prevention Law." This legislation will help to prevent medical debt by making hospital financial assistance more accessible and ensuring that money allocated to hospitals for charity care is used for that purpose.

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Campaign for New York Health

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The New York Health Act [A6058 / S5474] will provide comprehensive health coverage for every resident or full-time worker in New York. You and your healthcare providers work to keep you healthy -- New York Health pays the bill. 

 

Under the New York Health Act, New Yorkers would benefit from the following:

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• Comprehensive Coverage
   

• Freedom to Choose
   

• Fair Funding
   

• Equality of Care
   

• Decreased Administrative Costs

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For all these reasons, support for the New York Health Act is growing. The NY Health Act was reintroduced in 2021 and 2022 with majority support in both the Assembly and Senate! The NY Health Act passed the Assembly four years in a row (2015-2018). We desperately need a healthcare system that will reverse decades of inequality through progressive funding; end the horrors of delaying needed care due to medical costs; and relegate medical-related bankruptcy to a footnote in history books. With your help, we can make healthcare a guaranteed right for all New Yorkers!

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Learn more about the Campaign for New York Health here. 

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Fair Elections​

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The New York State Public Campaign Finance Program is a statewide program that helps diminish the impact wealthy donors and corporate interests have on our elections and decisions in state government. After nearly two decades of grassroots organizing, this new system is up and running for all candidates for the New York State Senate and Assembly, but rumors from the State Capitol are that incumbent legislators, afraid of fair elections and competition, want to kill this vital program before it even starts. 

 

The New York State Public Campaign Finance Program, in effect for the 2024 State Senate and Assembly elections, would put the power back in the hands of the people of New York State. The program would help candidates engage more with constituents and fund campaigns without relying on big-dollar donors. The program is a small donor public matching funds system, with a $12-to-$1 match on the smallest contributions. In light of the immense impact this program would have on elections in New York State, and our ability to elect candidates that truly represent our communities, current legislators have only allocated $39 million for it in their budget proposals, well short of the $100 million necessary.

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Our communities deserve a state government responsive to the needs of the people, not big industry donors and the wealthy elite. This program, and the officials it would help us to elect, would go a long way in helping us to push back against the corporate interests that have opposed our work around housing justice and access to comprehensive healthcare for all New Yorkers. Together we won this system; we have to continue to work together to make our legislature fund it. 

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You can take action by calling your representatives and telling them to fully fund small donor public campaign financing using this tool.