While most legislators are busy haggling over pre-kindergarten funding and campaign finance reform in the state budget, state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) has renewed his bid to secure money for Queens nonprofits.
Addabbo said he met with Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this month and urged him to institute an alternative framework for distributing state funds to community organizations, schools, senior centers and neighborhood projects after the executive curtailed lawmakers’ access to member items in 2010 amid a spate of scandals involving the so-called member items.
The state budget once included a lump sum for generic aid to schools, corporations, municipalities or nonprofits, which legislators would direct to local initiatives.
“I said, ‘Governor, I don’t mind that you took it away from me ... but you never replaced it and now I have senior centers, veterans posts, after-school programs suffering,” Addabbo said, before listing organizations that he once directed funding to that have since closed due to a lack of money, including the Queens Multi-Service Center in Glendale, which provided case management for seniors, and the Forest Park Senior Center.
The senator has reintroduced a bill he drafted last year that would maintain the money once funneled through member items, but continue barring legislators from controlling it by having the state vet organizations and award financing through grant applications.
No senators have signed onto the bill and it does not have a sponsor in the state Assembly.
9 comments:
That's how they make sure to get re-elected...Them getting credit and Photo-ops them donating tax-payers $$ to senior centers, after-school programs, veretans,etc., etc..
"Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) has renewed his bid to secure money for Queens nonprofits."
He wants to secure the money so he can allocate it to himself.
No more money to phony-baloney non-profits! Let the Federal Govt do it. These local pols are too close to the recipients. There's too much favoritism - great example - useless bocce court at Bowne Park (not an example of a non-profit) - waste of $750K.
Each financial request should be evaluated independently by a distant board.
How about Van Bramer giving a quarter million to a dog run and Vallone four million to plug a diving pool while the Steinway Mansion rots?
What's wrong with funding park facilities like a dog run or diving pool or bocce court?
The city doesn't own the Steinway Mansion, and neither does the state. FoSM needs 9 million dollars just to get the project going, not counting ongoing operating costs. How much of that are you asking the state and city to fund? How many people would visit it annually? How does that compare to those park facilities?
Does that picture inspire confidence that your money will be handled well?
Just more pandering for votes.......
Joe Addabbo is totally useless.
He has no backbone and will tell you what you'd like to hear but NEVER gets anything done.
This, like all things he touches, will go nowhere.
His father was a do nothing as well.
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