Yesterday, Agudath Israel led a delegation of Orthodox Jewish advocates from the Hudson Valley area – Rockland County, Orange County, and Sullivan County– to Albany to advocate for our community’s needs. This was the first installment of Agudath Israel’s three annual advocacy missions to Albany, which give local representatives the opportunity to speak to their legislators about issues of concern to New York’s Orthodox Jewish communities.
The participants spent the day meeting with State Senators Peter Oberacker, James Skoufis and, Bill Weber, and Assemblymembers Karl Brabenec, Chris Eachus, Pamela Hunter, Dana Levenberg, John McGowan, and Nader Sayegh, as well as staff members of Senators Peter Harckham, Michelle Hinchey and Shelley Mayer, and Assemblymembers Aileen Gunther and Amy Paulin.
A highlight of the day was Assemblymember Dana Levenberg introducing Agudah’s Hudson Valley delegation on the Assembly floor.
At the forefront of the delegates’ presentations this year was Agudah’s new KnowUs initiative, which was launched at the start of the year to correct wrong and dangerous mischaracterizations of the Orthodox Jewish community. “Most of the legislators know our communities,” said Rabbi Labish Becker, executive director of Agudath Israel. “But some of their constituents don’t. We spoke to them about what they can do to help educate the general public about Orthodox Jews.”
One of the main issues discussed with the legislators was that of the Non-Profit Security Equipment grant (NPSE). With the rise of antisemitic attacks, specifically in New York, making sure our schools are given the funding they need to be able to protect themselves from such attacks is of the highest priority. Advocates asked the legislators to increase the program’s funding allocation to $60 million.
Another topic discussed was busing for nonpublic school students. State law requires school districts to provide transportation to all eligible students to and from school, both public and nonpublic. Many schools have multiple arrival and dismissal times. Districts with a large number of nonpublic schools often having varied arrival and dismissal times, and struggle to meet the state mandate. In some instances, the limited number of busses has led to children being on a bus for 90 minutes. This has caused many parents to forego their state-mandated and safe school bus transportation and instead transport children on their own, adding unnecessary expense, loss of work, and added traffic to these communities. Participants discussed this issue with the legislators and asked them to address the needs of their children so they receive adequate transportation.
The delegates also discussed other issues – including expanding child care funding, universal free lunch, and mandated services aid – with the legislators.
“We had a very productive day of meetings,” said Rabbi Shragi Greenbaum, director of Agudah’s Rockland County Regional Office. “We are grateful to all those who joined us in Albany this year to advocate on behalf of our community.”
“Having been a participant on multiple trips to Albany as a part of the Agudah delegation, I am always impressed with the respect our elected officials have for the Agudah,” said Mrs. Rivkie Feiner, CEO of Feiner Grant Strategies. “By organizing these trips Agudath Israel provides a great service in enabling community leaders to talk directly with their representatives, and have our voices heard.”
