Long Island DREAM Act Coalition Statement on NYDA in the 2016 Budget

The Long Island DREAM Act Coalition would like to commend Governor Cuomo for adding the New York DREAM Act into the 2016 draft budget. The New York State DREAM Act provides tuition assistance to undocumented students, a benefit already available in Texas, California and New Mexico. As a coalition made up of DREAMers, educators, and union members, we are also pleased to see that this year’s inclusion of the New York DREAM Act is as a stand alone bill.

However, more needs to be done. Each year that the New York DREAM Act fails pass in the final budget, thousands of students will continue to watch their peers go to the college of their choice while they face overwhelming financial barriers to achieve the same goals.  As the leader of the state with 2nd highest immigrant population, we expect Governor Cuomo to show his commitment to passing the DREAM Act, and to show this is indeed genuine through his voice, and actions in the upcoming months.

According to the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), the cost of extending eligibility for State financial aid to undocumented students is less than two percent of the total TAP budget – a small price to pay for giving more than 8,000 undocumented students a chance to go to college, graduate and continue contributing to the betterment of our state.

The Fiscal Policy Institute found that the New York State DREAM Act will cost typical taxpayers less than the price of a doughnut, and that the tax revenue alone generated by undocumented immigrants would cover more than the increase in TAP costs. According to the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, the state earned more than $662 million in revenue from undocumented immigrants in 2010, proving that undocumented immigrants truly are an important source of economic growth for the state.

We remind Governor Cuomo that the NY DREAM Act is not only a smart investment, but that education is a human right and no student should be marginalized because he or she is unable to obtain economic opportunity for higher education.

Governor Cuomo, we urge you follow through on your commitment and include the NY DREAM Act in the final 2016 budget come April.

Sincerely,

The Long island DREAM Act Coalition

The Long Island DREAM Coalition Solidarity Fund is a community raised initiative that seeks to provide financial assistance for the families of workers facing deportation. Long Island is a very expensive place to live and one person’s deportation/detainment can have devastating impacts on a family unit’s ability to afford housing, food, childcare, or medical treatment. 100% of all money raised will go to to families with detained breadwinners  or workers. Please consider donating here, no amount is too small!

Today is Giving Tuesday – the day when people give back to the causes they care about most.

With the biggest shopping season of the year upon us, corporate CEOs are doing everything they can to finance holiday bargains on the backs of hardworking people. Together we can change that.

Donate this Giving Tuesday and support Long Island Jobs with Justice as we lead a movement of activists to demand fair wages, just hours and decent lives for working families across Long Island.

We’ve already made huge strides so far this year:

• Through community organizing, we pressured the New York Wage Board to raise the minimum wage for fast-food employees in the state to $15.
• In March, we took on NICE Bus and successfully prevented a fare increase on some of Nassau’s most disenfranchised.
• We provided information and resources to 740 immigrant parents and students on their educational and employment opportunities.
• We helped support the organizing efforts of UFCW Local 2013 in their fight to win wage increases for their members working for Quality King, and Teamsters Local 1205 in their fight to win a good contract with improved worker protections for their members working for Baumann/Acme buses. Both locals were victorious!

Giving Tuesday is a great example of something we see every day in our work: we are more powerful when we stand together. So for those who care about workers’ rights, now is when our voices can have the most impact.

Donate TODAY and help us win more victories for working people across Long Island this holiday season and into the New Year.

We thank you for your ongoing support and hope that you will join us on this national day of giving, and thousands of others across the world, who are fighting for what’s right by giving back – and giving generously.

Thank you for joining us in the fight for working people everywhere.

In solidarity,

From all of us at Long Island Jobs with Justice

PS: After you give back, please spread the word on social media with the hashtag #GivingTuesday to inspire others to support Long Island Jobs with Justice!

Verizon is trying to take away job and retirement security from its workers – all the while the CEO makes over 200 times as much money as the average Verizon employee.

Verizon makes $1.5 billion each month in profits, but wants to take about job security, raise healthcare costs by thousands of dollars, slash retirement security and even eliminate benefits for workers injured on the job.

Yesterday,  we reached a turning point in the fight to end income inequality in New York. The Labor Commissioner approved the Wage Board’s recommendation to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $15 an hour.

This victory will set the tone for improving wage standards for all New Yorkers – and it could not have happened without the courage and strength of workers and allies like you!

Today is a day to celebrate how far we have come. When we unite and organize, we win!

The fight is not over though. Yesterday, Governor Cuomo pledged to fight for a statewide minimum wage of $15 an hour for all workers. It will take all of us continuing to organize and advocate in order to make New York’s minimum wage a living wage for all workers.

We won in Seattle.

We won in San Francisco.

We won in Los Angeles.

And yesterday, we won in New York.

Onward!

And just for fun —