Cuomo Pushing City to End Food-Stamp Fingerprinting

New York City, which is alone in the state in requiring the fingerprints, says the practice prevents fraud, but Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says it discourages people from seeking help.

ALBANY — New York City would have to stop requiring the electronic fingerprinting of food stamp applicants under regulations proposed on Thursday by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who has sided with advocates for the hungry who say it discourages people from seeking benefits.

New York State stopped requiring the fingerprinting of food stamp recipients in 2007, but granted an exemption to the city at the request of the Bloomberg administration, which said fingerprinting was the best way to prevent fraud.

Food Stamps and Fingerprints a Bad Combination

By Robert M. Hayes, Co-Chair, BALCONY



It is unconscionable that some 30% of New York’s eligible, working families are not signed up for food stamps, largely because they don’t want to submit to the stigmatizing process of being fingerprinted as if they were criminals.

Food Stamps Are Not a Crime

In January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised to end fingerprinting of people who apply for food aid in New York State. On Thursday, he finally proposed the regulations that can make that happen.

Remembering Pete Fornatale

REMEMBERING PETE FORNATALE



I had the honor of speaking at both wakes and after the funeral mass for Pete Fornatale. Several people asked me to print out my talks. This represents a summary of what was a very emotional, difficult, and privileged time.

Dear Friends,

Pete and I were friends for 45 years. We met at a weeklong workshop for teachers, hosted by Fordham University in the summer of 1967, to help teachers to use electronic media in the classroom. There were several superstars who spoke; led by media guru Marshall McLuhan, Sidney Poitier, a whole host of film directors and TV experts and a young recent Fordham graduate named Pete Fornatale. They were all very interesting but the only one I went up to talk to was Pete, who spoke about the role of Rock music in the classroom.

Read the entire EULOGY.

New York on $15,000 a Year

Imagine trying to survive in New York City on less than $15,000 a year. That is what a person making the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour earns for a full-time job. It’s time to do something about that.

Multiple Paths to a Goal By BILL AYRES

April 21, 2012

I’M an only child. I decided early on that I needed the equivalent of brothers and sisters, so over my lifetime I’ve created deep relationships.

My maternal grandmother told me to try to see the good in everyone, and that stayed with me. I had a sense of wanting to be part of a community. I also grew up with a tremendous desire to fight against injustice and prejudice.

When I was 15, I noticed that one person would suggest that I do something one way, while someone else would refute that. I realized that there is more than one way to accomplish a goal.

Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, BALCONY and NYC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to Conduct Health Care Insurance Workshops for Small Businesses

For Immediate Release: April 19, 2012 New York, NY – The Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and the Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONY,) along with the New York Hispanic Chamber of Commerce have been awarded a grant to help small businesses with health care and health insurance issues.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), states can establish Health Insurance Exchanges where individuals and small businesses can shop for, and enroll in, health coverage. Last Thursday Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order creating a Health Insurance Exchange in New York.

The Community Service Society, which awarded the grant to the GNYCC and BALCONY, and a dozen other groups, has established a Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP) to educate small companies about the new law and inform them of their options in choosing the best insurance plan for their employees.

BALCONY SUBMITS TESTIMONY TO NYS SENATE: NYS Minimum Wage Must Be Raised to $8.50

New York State Minimum Wage Must Be Raised to $8.50

By Lou Gordon, Director, Business and Labor Coalition of New York

The Business and Labor Coalition of New York submitted the following testimony to the New York State Senate Democratic Conference's Minimum Wage Public Forum on April 18, 2012:

New York needs a minimum wage that helps families struggling to make ends meet. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver unanimously agree on this – and we at the Business and Labor Coalition of New York, BALCONY, heartily agree with them in principle.

However, we believe that simply raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 is not enough. We, like the Fiscal Policy Institute, believe the state must increase, enact and phase-in $10 an hour minimum wage, starting at $8.50 and gradually increasing to $10 in 2014.
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