PEP, May 2007: Seniors see better days in Albany

A grassroots coalition of 350 retirees from across the state held a rally that ended with a face-to-face meeting with Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Senior Citizen Action Day, March 20.

Medicare Part D, soaring drug costs, affordable housing and long-term care for the elderly topped the agenda at the rank-and-file lobbying effort organized by the New York StateWide Senior Action Council.

A busload of DC 37 retirees joined the effort and huddled with lawmakers, top aides and advocacy groups at Albany’s Emanuel Baptist Church.

Michael Burgess, the new director of the state Office for the Aging, and Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a member of the Senate Committee on Aging, were among the officials who promised that senior services would not be cut in the 2008 budget.

“We are looking at better days in Albany,” said DC 37 Retiree Nancy Yost, who spearheads the political action arm of the DC 37 Retirees Association. “Under Pataki we did not have the access we have now.”

Experts and allies
“I have observed that Spitzer’s appointees are experts in their fields,” Yost beamed. “It’s so refreshing because we used to have no access and this time 100 seniors met face-to-face with the governor.”
Lawmakers discussed the challenges seniors face as they live longer, rear grandchildren and great-grandchildren, pay for prescription drugs and try to hold onto affordable housing.

“I thought it was great that this governor made time to meet with the seniors. We haven’t had that happen in 12 years,” said Local 384 retiree Rochelle Mangual, who along with Yost is a New York StateWide Senior Action Council board member.

DC 37 retirees also pressed Albany legislators to support HEAT, the union’s campaign to stop President Bush’s planned cuts in federal Medicaid and Medicare funds.

The coalition called for long-term care in nursing homes to be the last resort for seniors.
“This administration understands that we need to keep the person in the community as long as possible, ” Yost said. “Those of us who have worked in social services have been saying this for years.”

—Diane S. Williams