Throughout the COVID19 pandemic, Westchester nonprofits have worked in partnership with New York State to address unprecedented challenges. New York State has relied on our continued expertise and capacity to pivot and deliver critical services most efficiently, and at a lower cost than the government. The nonprofit workforce, largely comprised of low wage individuals, Black and Brown people and women, has kept our communities as safe and stable as possible. Nonprofit essential workers have put themselves and their families in harm’s way caring for other people’s children, parents and families with nowhere else to turn, with little of the recognition rightfully bestowed upon hospital workers as well as those in the retail industry.  ​​Nonprofit agencies have fulfilled the government’s statutory work by offering contracted services to people receiving residential and other services including the homeless, victims of sexual and domestic violence and child abuse, and people with disabilities. Nonprofits have served as gatekeepers through virtual programs for young people, older adults and struggling parents; nonprofits have been reliable, nimble and trustworthy during this pandemic. 

The nonprofit sector fully understands that the failure of Congress to pass a stimulus package that provides aid to states and localities, coupled with a pre-existing $13 billion deficit, has caused New York to face one of the most significant financial challenges in its history. 

Yet, it is incomprehensible that the State is seeking remedies for its financially precarious position on the backs of the nonprofit sector and the people we serve. New York State is withholding payments for nonprofit organizations for work already completed, suspending the prompt contract and prompt payment laws, and is threatening to retroactively cut funding for work nonprofits have already done on the state’s behalf.  Nonprofits are facing an immediate financial crisis as the need and demand for our services continue to grow, and as the cost of reopening safely continues to increase.  We​ cannot continue to do our work without adequate resources. 

Again, we stress that solutions should not be based on cuts that devastate New York communities and cause lasting harm to the nonprofits that serve them; these actions will further racially disparate negative outcomes of the pandemic on the nonprofit essential workforce and people served by the nonprofit sector.  Nonprofit Westchester asks the Legislature and the Governor to consider alternate strategies to raise revenue for the state including some or all of the following:

1.   Temporary Wealth Tax: implement a temporary wealth tax on billionaires based on unrealized capital gains as well as an income tax on ultra-millionaires or those earning $5 million or more annually. COVID-19 has exposed the deadly realities of income inequality.  New York’s population of millionaires has grown 72% in the ten years since New York imposed higher taxes on millionaires and the state has the highest concentration of billionaires, with a combined wealth greater than 300% of our entire state budget. New Yorkers making $50,000 or less are dying at disproportionate levels, while some of our wealthiest residents have profited through this crisis. We believe there will be no appreciable impact on those being temporarily taxed while the benefits to our most vulnerable will be significant.

2. Wealth Instrument Revenues​: repeal the 0.25% rebate for state sales tax on stock trades, a 0.5% sales tax on corporate stock buybacks, and carried interest fairness fees.

3. Increase Borrowing Authority: ​increase borrowing authority on a temporary basis, as the state has done in previous disasters and crises.

4. Reform Aid​: review and reform any state aid, reducing aid to wealthy areas in order to more equitably distribute resources for those communities in most need.

5. Center Equity in Revenue Options​: provide resources for undocumented New Yorkers who were fully left out of federal relief, immigrants, Black, indigenous, and people of color disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and the nonprofits led by and serving these communities.

Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will only be realized with a strong nonprofit infrastructure that benefits all New Yorkers. 

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Nonprofit Westchester

WestCOP
Westhab
Lifting Up Westchester
Family Ties of Westchester, Inc.

United Way of Westchester and Putnam

Hope's Door
WJCS - Westchester Jewish Community Services

The American Lung Association

Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle NY

Westchester Library System

SPARC, Inc.

Jawonio

Mount Vernon United Tenants

My Sisters' Place

Westchester Institute for Human Development

Hudson Valley Community Services, Inc.

The LOFT LGBT Center

Groundwork Hudson Valley

Family Services of Westchester

The Legal Aid Society of Westchester County

Westchester Chorale

Caring for Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill

The John C. Hart Memorial Library

H.A.W.T Muse Inc.
Thomas H. Slater Center

Family Service Society of Yonkers
Ability Beyond
The Mental Health Association of Westchester (MHA)
Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center
Westchester Library System

Yes She Can Inc.

Sound Justice Initiative
Westchester Children's Association
Abbott House
Latino U College Access
Student Advocacy, Inc. 
Center for Aging in Place

Volunteer New York!
Westchester Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute for Nonviolence
Songcatchers Inc. 
Alison Paul Grant Writing
Emergency Shelter Partnership
Center for Aging in Place
Displaced Homemakers Program- Westchester Community College
PEACE Outside Campus
Mount Kisco Child Care Center