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About the New York Thruway Alliance
The New York
Thruway Alliance (NYTA) is an alliance of four congregation-based
organizations throughout the upstate region. Member organizations
are based in Albany (ARISE), Syracuse (ACTS), Buffalo (Voice-Buffalo) and Niagara County (NOAH), and are
dedicated to a broad upstate revitalization agenda, especially
reviving impoverished neighborhoods in struggling upstate metro
regions.
The NYTA has a membership base of over 100 congregations and 40,000
voters.
In 2007, the NYTA conducted a 4,000-person listening campaign and,
on that basis, selected Jobs, Health and Youth as its three-part
issue campaign.
The NYTA brings
a democratic, citizen-led effort to help guide and fulfill state
government promises after 50 years of decline and neglect, viewing
this community-based effort as an essential and necessary ingredient
in any upstate revitalization program.
On Feb. 12 and 13, 2008, the NYTA held its official Issues Campaign
Launch and Covenant Ceremony to embrace the issues detailed below.
On May 20 and
21, 2008, the NTYA convened in Albany to meet with allies
(business, labor, senior citizen organizations and others) and New
York State legislators, to further discuss the three issues.
Read the report on this event
here.
On Jul. 25 and 26,
2008, the NYTA met in Syracuse to focus its issue areas of Jobs,
Health Care and Youth into specific legislative goals.
Read the highlights and outcomes of this meeting
here.
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New York Thruway Alliance Issues
Download the NYTA
report on our May 20-21 2008 trip to Albany
Download the highlights of the NYTA meeting, July 25-26 2008, in Syracuse
ISSUE: JOBS
New York State has
been losing jobs at an alarming rate for over 25 years. In fact,
the City of Buffalo was recently named one of the poorest cities in
the United States.
LOCAL ACTIONS:
Community Benefit
and Local Hiring Agreements
Albany
ARISE, Syracuse ACTS and Niagara County NOAH have been coordinating
efforts to negotiate Community Benefits or Local Hiring Agreements
around major publicly funded capital and infrastructure
developments. Examples include the $300 million
Albany
Convention Center
and the 10-year, $1 billion Syracuse City Schools.
Community Benefit
Agreements
are legally binding commitments negotiated between the developers of
a given project and a broadly representative community coalition.
The deal is broad community support in exchange for clear and
tangible benefits to a specific, usually poor, neighborhood affected
by the project, such as living wage jobs, affordable housing or
public park and recreation space.
Local Hiring
Agreements
are similar but focus primarily on hiring from local communities for
construction supported by public money. NOAH of Niagara County has
been working with local government to pass these agreements and,
when necessary, to connect the hiring with local training agencies.
The policy requires that any municipal, county or state contracts
include in their RFP’s a requirement that the contractor hire 30 per
cent minimum from the local area where the work will be performed.
STATE ACTIONS
Road Construction
Jobs
Working with the NYS Departments of Transportation and Labor to
develop job training centers and workforce development programs
using .5% of federal highway funds ($6 million per year) to support
access for women, minorities and disadvantaged populations to
good-paying jobs in road construction around the state.
State Community
Benefit and Local Hiring Agreements
There
exists no law or regulation encouraging or mandating the negotiation
of Community Benefits or Local Hiring Agreements in connection with
state-funded capital projects in New York State. However, the New
York Thruway Alliance will investigate whether such a state law or
regulation is possible.
Workforce
Development Policy
At
present, fragmentation of Industrial Development Agencies (IDA)
authorities, local governments and land-use decision making prevents
the formation of coherent and effective regional workforce
development plans in connection with major economic development
investments.
ISSUE: ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
In general NYTA members are
concerned about the millions of New Yorkers still cut off from good,
reliable healthcare.
LOCAL ACTION:
In
Onondaga County, NYTA member ACTS is engaged in helping develop
government-sponsored outreach efforts to enroll more of the
thousands of eligible children in S-CHIP who are still left out of
this program.
STATE ACTION:
In
consultation with major players in healthcare reform in NYS in both
government and community arenas, the NYTA will investigate the
question as whether to limit its healthcare organizing strictly to
S- CHIP or to add other healthcare policy goals.
ISSUE: YOUTH JOBS AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION
STATE ACTION:
Summer Job Programs
Existing
summer jobs programs for youth in major metro areas are woefully
inadequate to the need. NYTA will investigate the necessary
resources to expand those programs where they are working and to
improve programs that are not.
Liberty Partnership
Program (LPP)
LPP is a dropout prevention and workforce development program run by
the State Education Department that urgently needs to be expanded.
It serves 14,000 students statewide with a $12 million budget and
has an astonishing 98% student retention rate, but it could easily
be expanded to reach more students at risk of dropping out and
losing economic opportunity and access to college. NYTA will
investigate the possibilities for an expanded LPP in New York State.
Empire Promise
Program
LPP has also put
forward a concept paper for an Empire Promise Program that would
expand the successful student retention model of LPP through college
and connect students to good jobs in the NYS workforce. NYTA will
investigate the potential for integrating education, higher
education and regional workforce development and youth retention in
this way.
Gang Prevention
Program
Boston,
Massachusetts and Hempstead, Long Island, have developed gang
prevention programs that show amazing success at reducing end even
eliminating drug-related violence in neighborhoods formerly overrun
by gang-controlled drug dealing by using facilitated community
meetings between convicted drug dealers and members of their
neighborhood. Interfaith Action in Rochester has also had success
using police department foot patrols to bring levels of crime down
in specific neighborhoods.
NYTA will
investigate successful pilot projects like these and look to frame
appropriate state policies to move beyond heavy-handed crime
suppression and toward the creation of youth opportunities and
community development in poor neighborhoods.
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