Assembly members put their stamp of approval on one of UUP’s top legislative priorities when they passed Maintenance of Effort legislation, 146-1.

Now, UUP advocates are working hard to convince state senators to bring the MOE bill to the floor for a vote before the legislative session tentatively ends June 17.

The June 9 Assembly vote came after two weeks of face-to-face advocacy by dozens of UUPers during a series of regional advocacy days in June. Cortland Chapter members Marc Dearstyne, Jen Drake and Dave Ritchie were among those who came to Albany to ask lawmakers to change the MOE language to include SUNY hospitals and inflationary and mandatory costs. The current MOE only requires the state to provide the same level of funding and fringe benefits of the prior state fiscal year. They thanked Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D-Ithaca), left, for her vote in support of the MOE.

But they’re not finished yet.

“It’s important for us to remember that our work isn’t done,” UUP President Fred Kowal said. “We can be proud that our advocacy helped convince the Assembly to pass an important piece of our legislative agenda. But we must continue to make our case to members of the Senate that a genuine Maintenance of Effort is one of the necessary steps to move SUNY forward.”

Making the case for SUNY

In all, more than 55 UUPers from 17 chapters came to the Capitol in June to urge lawmakers to pass legislation that would move SUNY forward and make public higher education accessible to all New Yorkers. Key among them: Create a SUNY endowment, and make campus and research foundations more transparent.

The advocacy days follow other visits to lawmakers in Albany and in district offices. UUP’s efforts this legislative session led to increases in the state budget for EOP and EOC; the Legislature raised funding for EOP by $5.7 million and for EOC by $1.5 million.