{"id":1380,"date":"2021-03-04T14:41:40","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T14:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/?p=1380"},"modified":"2021-03-04T14:41:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T14:41:41","slug":"uup-news-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/uup-news-release\/","title":{"rendered":"UUP News Release"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"press<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
JANUARY 28, 2021<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

UUP releases ambitious, progressive 2021-2022 legislative agenda\u2014NY HEALS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United University Professions has issued a wide-ranging 2021-2022 state legislative agenda that rejects Gov. Cuomo\u2019s proposed Executive Budget cuts and calls for the State University of New York to commit to an expanded role in meeting the challenges our society faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe governor has proposed two budgets, one with cuts and one where the budget is flat,\u201d said UUP President Frederick E. Kowal. \u201cThis is a false choice. UUP says there is another way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe propose a package that would increase access to healthcare and higher education, essential mission funding for our SUNY public hospitals, and a sustainable path forward for the state,\u201d Kowal continued. \u201cThis more ambitious option is made possible by calling on the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay their fair share.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UUP\u2019s legislative agenda, New York HEALS<\/a> (Healthcare, Education, Access, Leadership, Sustainability) is an avenue to reach these progressive goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an ambitious plan, but one that\u2019s demanded by the times,\u201d said Kowal. \u201cNY HEALS is a comprehensive agenda that builds a future for SUNY, for our students, our communities, our nation and our world. It offers a path to help the state regain its financial footing, builds a foundation fortified by a strong, innovative public higher education system, protects our environment, and expands SUNY\u2019s healthcare system\u2014which will provide cutting-edge care to more New Yorkers than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healthcare is at the core of NY HEALS. The state must invest in SUNY\u2019s hospitals for them to fulfill their public health missions. UUP\u2019s legislative package calls for the restoration of $87 million in essential mission funding, and for hazard pay for frontline workers at SUNY\u2019s public teaching hospitals in Brooklyn, Stony Brook and Syracuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur dedicated members placed their health and the health of their families on the line to care for COVID-infected patients, and they are the only hospital employees not getting hazard pay,\u201d said Kowal. \u201cThey deserve hazard pay or other additional compensation to recognize their sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe understand that the state is facing a budget deficit, but the lack of hazard pay for SUNY hospital employees, coupled with the delay in contractual raises for UUP members across the system, reflects a lack of understanding of what New Yorkers need,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by the SUNY\u2019s successful Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), UUP is proposing the creation of a Medical EOP to build a larger and more diverse cohort of medical students in SUNY\u2019s academic medical centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UUP, which represents 37,000 members at SUNY, is advocating for a correction of the expiring Tuition Assistance Program formula to ensure that the true costs of a SUNY education are covered by the program, not by struggling families and campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UUP believes SUNY can lead the way in carrying out the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) by expanding programming across campuses to establish SUNY as a world leader in climate crisis research and mitigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UUP recognizes that ambitious policy is not possible without progressive tax policy. NY HEALS proposes a menu of revenue raisers\u2014including reinstating the state\u2019s Stock Transfer Tax, instituting a capital gains tax, and taxing billionaires, ultra-millionaires and inherited wealth\u2014that could bring billions in new dollars to the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we are to defeat COVID-19 and emerge as a more just society, we can\u2019t simply continue with the political economy as it was prior to the pandemic,\u201d Kowal said. \u201cIt was hopelessly regressive and unjust then. We must do better. NY HEALS leads the way.\u201dUUP is the nation’s largest higher education union, with more than 42,000 academic and professional faculty and retirees. UUP members work at 29 New York state-operated campuses, including SUNY\u2019s public teaching hospitals and health science centers in Brooklyn, Long Island and Syracuse. It is an affiliate of NYSUT, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the AFL-CIO.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 28, 2021 UUP releases ambitious, progressive 2021-2022 legislative agenda\u2014NY HEALS United University Professions has issued a wide-ranging 2021-2022 state legislative agenda that rejects Gov. Cuomo\u2019s proposed … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1380"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1381,"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1380\/revisions\/1381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uuphost.org\/purchase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}