NYLPI submitted testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Finance on key priorities in the city’s FY23 Executive Budget.

Our recommendations span NYLPI’s core program areas and campaigns, including:

1. Fully funding the City Council’s Immigrant Health Initiative. NYLPI has been a part of this initiative since 2017 and has used this funding to provide legal representation for transgender, gender-nonconforming, intersex (TGNCI) folks and/or HIV+ individuals.
2. Investments in organic waste recycling, commercial waste reform programs, and waste equity initiatives that create green jobs. NYLPI urges the Council and administration to mandate a timeline and plan for the implementation of a universal, citywide compost program.
3. Delivering the promises of the Renewable Rikers Act of 2021. NYLPI supports the Council’s proposal in the FY23 Budget Response to install a large-scale solar array and energy storage on approximately 50 acres of land on Riker’s Island.
4. Fully implementing Local Law 97 of 2019. NYLPI echoes the Council’s call to baseline full funding and staffing for the Office of Building Energy and Emissions Performance (OBEEP) to implement and enforce Local Law 97 of 2019.
5. Redirect funds allocated for B-HEARD to instead fund the CCIT-NYC non-police mental health crisis response system. After nearly a year in business, the City’s B-HEARD program, which was intended to be a non-police response to mental health crises, continues to dispatch police to more than 80% of mental health crisis calls. As a member of the Correct Crisis Intervention Today-NYC coalition, NYLPI supports the coalition’s non-police proposal.

Read the full testimony delivered to the committee on our website.