As part of its effort to pass the Education Investment Incentives Act—also known as the Education Tax Credit—during the 2015 legislative session, OU Advocacy-Teach NYS, the nonpartisan public policy arm of the Orthodox Union, is bringing a delegation of community and Jewish day school leaders from Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester and Upstate to Albany tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, to appeal for passage of the bill. The advocacy mission is co-sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York.

The delegation will have lunch with legislators at 12:20 p.m. in Convention Center Meeting Room 2 and will be recognized on the Floor of the Assembly at 3:15 p.m.

OU Advocacy-Teach NYS has also scheduled meetings with members of the Assembly and the Senate, including the Senate leadership, during which mission participants will urge their legislators to include the tax credit in the enacted State Budget.

“This mission brings legislators face to face with the Jewish day school parents and students who are directly affected by the Education Tax Credit bill,” said Arielle Frankston-Morris, Director of Field Operations for OU Advocacy-Teach NYS. “It also demonstrates to our community members that their presence in Albany can influence legislators and have a powerful impact on their daily lives.”

“If passed, the Education Tax Credit would provide millions of dollars in scholarship aid to non-public school students,” said Jake Adler, New York Policy Director for OU Advocacy-Teach NYS. “Since Governor Cuomo’s re-election campaign, he has been openly supportive of the Education Tax Credit bill. With his commitment to the bill, the support from the Senate, which passed the bill earlier this year, and a growing amount of support for the bill in the Assembly, we are confident that 2015 will be the year of the Education Tax Credit, to benefit all of New York’s children.”

“The Education Tax Credit would support the entire Jewish day school community in New York, regardless of denomination. We are proud to stand together with the Orthodox Union to support this critical funding bill,” said Jeffrey Leb, Managing Director for Government and External Relations at UJA-Federation of New York.

This mission is the third of four advocacy missions organized by OU Advocacy-Teach NYS in support of the Education Tax Credit. The first mission brought a delegation of 30 high school students to Albany from Yeshivah of Flatbush and Nazareth Regional High School; the second mission, co-sponsored with Yachad, the flagship program of the Orthodox Union’s National Jewish Council for Disabilities, brought a 50-person delegation of individuals with special needs and mainstream high school students to Albany. The remaining mission will bring parents, students and Jewish day school leaders from Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and Staten Island to Albany.

The top priority during the 2015 Legislative Session for OU Advocacy-Teach NYS is passing the Education Tax Credit. By encouraging individuals and corporations to make charitable contributions to public schools or scholarship-making organizations for tuition-paying families, the Education Tax Credit could generate an unprecedented amount of support to tuition-paying families and ensure that the program benefits the broadest swath of New York’s schoolchildren. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has included the credit in his Executive Budget. The bill in the state Senate is sponsored by Senators Martin J. Golden (R-Brooklyn) and Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn); in the state Assembly, the bill is sponsored by Assembly Member Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island).

(YWN Desk – NYC)