On Tuesday, Governor Cuomo unveiled his full 2018 budget proposal. We were initially thrilled to see a budget line item related to early voting and automatic voter registration. What appeared to be $6.4 million in funding turned out to be an assumed cost on counties, not designated funding. We were of course disappointed but this will not prevent us from continuing our advocacy efforts to fund early voting.
The Governor still has time to amend his budget proposal. The New York State Constitution gives the Governor 30 days to amend his budget proposal. We are hoping that he will add the appropriate funding for early voting before time runs out.
You find all of the Governor's budget materials
here.
February In-District Lobby Visits
Even though there isn't currently budget funding dedicated to early voting, we are still encouraging local Leagues to meet with their legislators and discuss including funding in their one house budgets.
We are asking Local Leagues to meet with their Assembly members and Senators during their February break. This break begins on February 14th and ends on February 26th. We will be sending a packet of lobby materials to local Leagues with in the next week.
Contact your Issues and Advocacy Chair if you are interested in joining members for a lobby meeting.
