Governor's budget proposal will boost help for 'vulnerable'

ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson's executive budget proposal, to be presented Tuesday, will include increased assistance for New York's "most vulnerable populations."

In a Sunday press conference, Paterson administration officials outlined four areas in which the governor will propose boosting resources and assistance to some of the state's neediest people during what many believe will be a prolonged recession.

Joseph Baker, the governor's deputy secretary for health and human services, said the four-pronged proposal includes "creative initiatives" that "will solidify and strengthen the social safety net."

Mr. Baker and Kristin Proud, deputy director of state operations, listed the governor's four policy proposals as:

■ Increasing the public assistance basic allowance grant by 30 percent over three years, at 10 percent per year beginning in January 2010.

■ Increasing access to the state's Family Health Plus insurance program, while also increasing indigent care funding to teaching hospitals and community care clinics around the state.

■ Creating a veterans' family outreach program to assist military veterans in returning to civilian and family life.

■ Investing in various public health and nutrition programs.

The increases in public assistance, when fully implemented, would mean the average family of three on public assistance would be eligible for a basic monthly allowance of up to $387. This is up from the current monthly allowance of $291, or $3,492 annually, which has not changed since 1990 despite inflation's 65 percent climb over the past 18 years.

The average upstate family of three can currently draw an average monthly benefit, including shelter allowance, of $589. Under the governor's proposal, this would rise to $618 in January 2010, to $650 in January 2011 and to $685 in January 2012.

The increase would cost the state $8 million in 2009-10 and rise to $109 million in 2012-13 when fully implemented. It will cost counties an additional $76 million annually upon full implementation.

"This is a good counterpart to the governor's initiatives on food stamps by increasing access for working families who, given the economic conditions, are struggling to make ends meet," Ms. Proud said. "It gives these individuals access to more that they cannot purchase with food stamps."

The Paterson administration predicts a 2-percent increase in recipients of public assistance in the 2009-10 fiscal year.

The governor's proposals to expand health insurance access relies upon securing a federal waiver to expand Family Health Plus eligibility to cover adults up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level at full federal funding.

Expanding indigent care programs would mean taking $282 million in state funds for graduate medical education and redirecting them to New York's indigent care pool to pay teaching hospitals for treating indigent patients. Such a move would save New York $141 million, as it would draw matching federal funds.

Mr. Baker said these proposals are not a "slam dunk" but held out hope.

"We believe these are things that comport with the philosophical bent of the new Obama administration," he said.

Gov. Paterson will also propose boosting assistance to city and county veterans programs by $520,000 to $1.2 million. Rural areas would be served by two new vans and mobile counselors to offer counseling and benefit coordination services to military veterans who reside in areas without easy access to such services.

Ms. Proud noted that greater numbers of military veterans will return from combat in the coming years.

"We want to link vets to benefits and counseling services to which they're already entitled — and to help them transition back to civilian life and family life," she said.

Regarding public health and nutrition, the governor will propose $4.4 million in funding for food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters. He would also increase the a lead poisoning prevention program for children by $2.5 million, add funding of $3.2 million for cancer screening programs for the uninsured and underinsured, and provide $1 million in funding for local obesity prevention programs.