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In This Newsletter: - Have Your Voices Heard
- County Update
- State Update
- Federal Update
- Upcoming NPW Events
- Member Events
- NPW Program Wrap Up
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Governor Hochul: $500 Million for Small Business – Nonprofit Businesses Not Included
Governor Hochul announced $500 million in grant funding through the Empire State Development COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program that will go to nearly 29,000 small businesses throughout New York State. The program was created to provide flexible grant assistance to small businesses, micro-businesses and for-profit independent arts and cultural organizations in the State of New York who have experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nonprofit organizations employ 20% of the workforce statewide. NPW will continue to advocate for similar funding to support nonprofit 501c3 that have experienced economic hardship as a result of the pandemic. As a reminder, this is a separate issue from efforts that seek to adequately fund nonprofit organizations that deliver government mandated and other critical services to all New Yorkers. |
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NY State Legislation and Related Items
Newly Signed Bills to Address Workplace Harassment and Discrimination. On March 16, Governor Hochul signed three bills to address workplace harassment and discrimination:
- S.812B (Biaggi)/A.2035B (Niou) establishes a confidential hotline for complaints of workplace sexual harassment
- S.3395B (Gounardes)/A.2483B (Niou) includes the state and all public employers as subject to the human rights law
- S.5870 (Gounardes)/A.7101 (González-Rojas) prohibits release of personnel records as a retaliatory action against employees
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HERO Act New Model Template
Effective February 10, 2022, consistent with the Governor lifting the indoor mask mandate, the New York State Department of Labor updated its model template for the airborne infectious disease exposure prevention control plan for all private sector workers.
The New York Health and Essential Rights Act (NY HERO Act) was signed into law on May 5, 2021. The law mandates extensive new workplace health and safety protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the NY HERO Act is to protect employees against exposure and disease during a future airborne infectious disease outbreak.
Under this law, the New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL), in consultation with the NYS Department of Health, has developed an Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard, a Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan, and various industry-specific model plans for the prevention of airborne infectious disease. Employers can choose to adopt the applicable policy template/plan provided by NYS DOL or establish an alternative plan that meets or exceeds the standard's minimum requirements. The airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans must go into effect when an airborne infectious disease is designated by the New York State Commissioner of Health as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health. When designated, employers are required to provide a copy of the adopted airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plan and post the same in a visible and prominent location within each worksite. Templates and resources are available below. On March 17, 2022, the designation of COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health under the HERO Act ended. Private sector employers are no longer required to implement their workforce safety plans. Inquiries about the HERO Act can be emailed to Airborne.Infectious.Diseases@labor.ny.gov. For more information: https://dol.ny.gov/ny-hero-act. |
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NY State Senate and Assembly One House Budgets
One House Budget Legislation: On March 14 the State Senate and State Assembly released their one house budget legislation in response to Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget. You can review the Senate's resolution here, and the Assembly's summary here. The legislature and governor will need to negotiate a final budget for the state by April 1, 2022.
NYS Assembly One-House Budget: The Assembly released their FY 2023 Budget Proposal of $226.4 billion including budget priorities such as:
- $3 Billion for Childcare
- $150 Million Included to Support and Expand Universal Pre-K
- Aid for Rent Relief and Paths to Homeownership
- Mental Health Services for New Yorkers
- Eliminating the Medicaid Global Cap
- Increasing Wages for Home Care Workers
NYS Senate One-House Budget: The NYS Senate announced a $229 billion FY 2023 spending plan that included priorities such as:
- A commitment to Climate Action
- Property Tax Relief for Homeowners
- Rent Relief for Tenants
- A Suspension of the State’s Tax on Gasoline
- Funding for caregivers, Infrastructure at the Local Level, and Investments in Mental Health Services alongside Investments in Community Violence Prevention
- Eliminating the Medicaid Global Cap
- Increasing Wages for Home Care Workers
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Senate Hearing on Charitable Giving and Nonprofit Trends The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on Thursday, March 17, Examining Charitable Giving and Trends in the Nonprofit Sector. The hearing focused mostly on the challenges nonprofits have faced during the pandemic and charitable giving. Various committee members expressed support for and discussed restoring and increasing the universal charitable deduction, Employee Retention Tax Credit, Universally Giving Pandemic Recovery Act, WORK NOW Act, and Accelerating Charitable Efforts (ACE) Act. Prior to the hearing, the National Council of Nonprofits and 15 state associations with Senators on the Committee submitted statements or written letters promoting the nonprofit policy priorities. You can go here to watch the hearing video. |
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Nonprofit Sector Strength and Partnership Act of 2022
Independent Sector is championing a draft bill intended to strengthen nonprofits, scale effective solutions, reduce bureaucracy, and support the nonprofit workforce. The Nonprofit Sector Strength and Partnership Act of 2022 would release quarterly economic data on the nonprofit sector, reduce paperwork for nonprofits to register and fundraise in multiple states, streamline grant and contracting processes, and provide clearer rules on nonprofit civic engagement. |
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Public Service Loan Forgiveness Webinar April 5The Department of Education is reforming the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program to provide a better path to relief for millions of nonprofit and other public service workers struggling under the weight of student loan debt. The National Council of Nonprofits and Student Borrower Protection Center will host a webinar on the program, Accessing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, on Tuesday, April 5 at 1:00 p.m. ET. You can register here.
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Enormous thanks to Adam Gaynor, Evan Kingsley, and Melissa Biffert of Plan A Advisors for expertly leading an engaging and informative program on March 16th focused on Program Portfolio Analysis. The session offered tools for assessing your program portfolio and demonstrated steps for determining impact and profitability so participants can make smart decisions on what programs to keep. |
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