ACTION ALERT

October 29, 2009

The administration of [fill in name agency] is sending out this action alert to peoplesupported by our organizationand their families, staff, members of the Board of Directors and concerned citizens.

Governor David Paterson has proposed a Deficit Reduction Plan to address New YorkState’s growing deficit. In his proposal, he has recommended cutting funding 10% to organizations such as ours that support people with disabilities. These cuts amount to approximately $375 million annually state-wide. This translates to over [X]million dollars of cuts for [fill in name agency].

Funding cuts of this magnitude would have devastating effects upon the programs that support people with disabilities.These cuts would force the reduction or elimination of programs, loss of staff jobs and ultimately impact the health and safety of those supported by our organization.

We are urging you to join our state-wide effort to contact our NYS Senators and Assembly members by telephone to urge them to REJECT the Governor’s Deficit Reduction Plan.It is critical that you call immediately as legislative hearings are underway already! The Governor has called a leadership meeting for Nov. 9th with a special legislative session for Nov 10th, so any actions we take need to start soon!

Please contact your representative based upon where you reside. For Representative search by zip code, go to both:

We urge you to call and have as many of your family and friends as possible call as well. The volume of calls will send a strong message to our representatives. If we don’t take immediate action, the system of services to people with disabilities will be devastated for years to come!

Please call any [fill in name agency]administrator with any questions, support in advocating or to find out how you may become more actively involved in this campaign to save our services. The maintelephone number is [XXX-XXXX]. Thank you for your support!