This week the Governor's office announced that he would be including $7 million for early voting in his 30 budget amendments. We were thrilled at the news and quickly released a statement praising the Governor for making voting reforms a priority issue. You can read our statement here.

Today the official amendments were released, and as promised, funding for early voting was included. The proposed line item gives the budget director the authority to divide the funding among counties. You can read the full amendment here.

Early voting would not begin until the 2019 elections but this funding is crucial for county boards to begin planning how they will adhere to the new reform. The legislature still has to include this funding in their final budget proposals but we are hopeful that with enough input from New York voters, this reform will finally be enacted in New York!

We have scheduled our annual lobby day for Tuesday, April 24th. Lobby day is an opportunity for members to meet with their legislators in Albany. We will have presentations from our Issues Specialist and Legislative Director. If you are interested in attending sign up here!

Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts will be holding their annual lobby day on March 13th. You can sign up to join them in Albany here