The New York State budget is now being negotiated in Albany. Programs like TAP, opportunity programs like EOP, HEOP, and SEEK, and state funding for SUNY, CUNY, and the community colleges are at risk. Click to read more about Governor Pataki’s higher education budget.

It is critical that students, their families and friends, faculty, campus administrators, and all advocates for higher education put pressure on the state leadership as well as their elected representatives to reject the Governor’s budget proposal and increase funding for higher education. Below are two sample letters you can send; you can also write your own, personal letter.

The state budget is due on April 1, but it is late for the 20th year in a row. As the budget could be passed any day now, it is important that you reach out to state leadership and your elected representatives as soon as possible to urge their support. See sample letters below.

PLEASE E-MAIL THE FOLLOWING STATE LEADERS:

Sheldon Silver
Speaker of the New York State Assembly, speaker@assembly.state.ny.us

Joseph Bruno
Majority Leader of the New York State Senate, bruno@senate.state.ny.us

Ron Canestrari
Chairperson of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, canestr@assembly.state.ny.us

Ken LaValle
Chairperson of the Senate Higher Education Committee, lavalle@senate.state.ny.us

ALSO ALERT YOUR ELECTED REPS FROM YOUR HOME AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS

To find out who represents you:

Click here if you live in New York City

Click here if you live on Long Island

Click here if you live in New York State

Once you find out who represents you and their email address, cut and paste one of the following letters into the body of the email to send to your elected representative. The subject of your email should be specific, e.g. reject the Governor’s TAP proposal. You can also email directly from the Senate and Assembly websites.

Please feel free to edit these letters. You might want to add some personal details such as how much financial aid you receive, how difficult it is for you to attend college, how many credits you’re taking, how many hours you work.

SAMPLE LETTER RE: Reject the Governor’s higher education budget Dear Legislator: I write to urge you to reject Governor Pataki’s higher education budget proposal for 2004-05. His cuts to financial aid and higher education hurt New York State student’s chances of achieving the college dream. As such, I urge that any final state budget do the following: Reject the Governor’s TAP proposal and fully funds students’ financial aid; Restore and increase funding for opportunity programs like EOP, HEOP, SEEK and College Discovery; Restore the Governor’s cut to and increase funding for community colleges Increase funding for CUNY and SUNY; and Restore funding for Bundy Aid to the state’s independent colleges. New York’s college students deserve a more affordable, accessible, and quality higher education. Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing back from you soon. Sincerely yours,

SAMPLE LETTER RE: Reject the Governor’s TAP proposal Dear Legislator: I write to urge you to reject the Governor Pataki’s TAP proposal and fully invest in students’ financial aid. As the cost of college in New York State increases at alarming rates, it is critical the New York State students have financial aid funding available to help defray the cost of a higher education. The Governor’s recommendations make no sense and hurt student’s chances of achieving the college dream. New York’s college students deserve a more affordable, accessible, and quality higher education. Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing back from you soon. Sincerely yours,