Page 8 - Wayne Spence News Today

( Albany, NY) Today, the Senate Majority will pass its one-house budget resolution that delivers emergency aid to help New York recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and invests in a brighter, more equitable future by fully funding essential services and putting more money in the pockets of working and middle-class families. The Senate resolution increases total school aid by $5.7 billion, provides billions in residential and commercial rental and foreclosure assistance, restores critical funding ...

Lawmakers blast Cuomo for Rockland Children Psychiatric Center changes amid pandemic stress Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News Legislators fight the closure of Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center Replay Video UP NEXT ORANGEBURG – If budget cuts close Rockland Childrens Psychiatric Center, state lawmakers and workers say the state will spend money later on incarcerating the people who could have been served and potentially saved as children. "People end...

Rockland/Westchester Journal News ORANGEBURG – If budget cuts close Rockland Childrens Psychiatric Center, state lawmakers and workers say the state will spend money later on incarcerating the people who could have been served and potentially saved as children. "People end up in county correctional facilities and state correctional facilities," said Wayne Spence, president of the Public Employees Federation. He added that is where those who could not get treatment landed after making "...

Judge strikes down use of secret subpoenas in State Police internal probes Ruling undermines agencys practice of sifting through personal records of employees FacebookTwitterEmail New York State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett. (Will Waldron/Times Union)Will Waldron/Albany Times Union ALBANY — The long-standing practice of state agencies to secretly use their administrative subpoena authority to sift the personal records of employees in internal investigations was struck down by a state S...

A.M. Roundup: Counties worried seniors being frozen out of vaccination sign-ups By Brendan J. Lyons on January 18, 2021 at 8:54 AM Many of New York’s county leaders are worried that seniors are being frozen out of the state’s vaccination plans — with tech savvy individuals and unions grabbing up many of the appointments at state-run mass-vaccination centers. (TU) Here’s the rest of your roundup: Albany — and many other cities — are seeing increasingly violent protests — fr...

Labor Union Objects to Prison Closures PUBLISHED 2:06 PM ET Jan. 08, 2021 PUBLISHED January 8, 2021 @2:06 PM SHARE The plan to close three prisons in New York in the coming months was criticized on Friday by the Public Employees Federation, the second-largest public workers labor organization in the state.  At the same time, PEF President Wayne Spence called for COVID vaccinations to be made available now to staff at the Department of Cor...

  You are well aware of the desperate circumstances New York suffered at the outset of the COVID crisis and continues to endure today. We understand Congress is considering a short-term federal funding measure of approximately $908 billion in COVID-19 relief. As an interim measure, this proposal should address states immediate and pressing needs, and it is essential and fair that New York receive at least a minimum amount of funding necessary to stop further massive damage.   It is important ...