Rockland Reporter

Today, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) issued a statement in response to New York Governor Kathy Hochul's comments about the state's Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), where she described the program as a "racket." Earlier this week, Congressman Lawler sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging the reversal of changes to CDPAP proposed in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. These changes could put fiscal intermediaries out of business and risk interrupting services for patients across New York.

"Governor Hochul's comments were an insult to the thousands of elderly and disabled New Yorkers enrolled in this program as well as to their caregivers," said Congressman Lawler. "President Truman used to have a sign on his desk that said 'the buck stops here.' Unfortunately, rather than accept responsibility for her disastrous mismanagement of this crucial program, Governor Hochul is blaming New Yorkers for the skyrocketing deficits caused by her own failed policies and forcing changes to CDPAP that could interrupt services for patients across the State. The program isn't the problem, Governor. It's time to stop passing the buck, own this mess, and start putting forward serious proposals to fix it."

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of the 118th Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and includes all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.

A copy of the letter sent by Congressman Lawler to Governor Hochul is linked here.