Dear Governor Hochul, Majority Leader Stewart Cousins, and Speaker Carl Heastie,
We, the undersigned group of unions, grassroots organizations, and community-based organizations across New York State call on the Governor and the Legislature to take long overdue action to meet urgent healthcare needs of New Yorkers in 2022: passing Coverage for All, the End Medical Debt bills, and passing the New York Health Act.
The past two years of the global pandemic have shown what we have long known: that our current system is deeply inadequate to meet our healthcare needs. Affordable, accessible, and comprehensive healthcare is crucial for the immediate as well as long-term recovery for our communities. According to the People’s Report on Healthcare, in New York State, “a striking number of respondents faced cost barriers and inadequate coverage that prevented medical care. 50% of all privately insured respondents reported skipping or delaying at least one type of care because of cost.” In fact, national studies have found that at least 1 in 3 COVID deaths and 40% of COVID infections were tied to lack of adequate insurance.
Making things even worse, New York’s largest hospital system sued more than 2,500 patients after the pandemic hit. New Yorkers should never have to choose between life or death because of fear of immigration status, affordability, or previous medical costs. If the challenges of the pandemic have taught us anything, it is that healthcare is a human right and we cannot afford to prioritize profit over human lives.
We need to ensure that every single New Yorker is free from the burden of medical costs and has guaranteed health coverage. That means meeting immediate needs, and transforming our healthcare system to ensure that healthcare is universal, guaranteed, and comprehensive for all. New York State can lead the way by passing three critical measures this session:
- Enact Coverage for All (A880/S1572), which would expand Essential Plan coverage to low-income and immigrant New Yorkers, providing much needed immediate relief to New Yorkers who lack any coverage.
- Pass the End Medical Debt bill package: These bills would end the predatory medical debt practices that burden families with undue and surprise medical costs. A7363/S6522 would prevent providers from garnishing wages or putting a lien on people’s homes, A3470B/S2521B would prohibit facility and other “surprise” fees for preventive care visits, and A8441 would ensure that New Yorkers are aware of financial assistance options.
- Pass the New York Health Act (A6058/S5474): to create a universal healthcare system that will ensure that every single New Yorker has comprehensive and affordable healthcare, including long-term care, and begin a path to implement it.
New Yorkers are experiencing a healthcare crisis unlike ever before - tens of thousands of new COVID cases each day, mounting medical debt burdening working families, and thousands of residents uninsured or underinsured. The state legislature must pass the Coverage 4 All and the End Medical debt bills in the budget to address these urgent issues, and must pass the New York Health Act by the end of this legislative session to transform our healthcare system to guarantee universal coverage as a right to all New Yorkers.
Signed,
Campaign for New York Health Steering Committee
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Campaign for New York Health |
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Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) |
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Citizen Action of New York |
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Community Service Society of New York |
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Democratic Socialists of America (NYC) |
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For the Many |
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Labor-Religion Coalition |
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Make the Road New York |
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Metro Justice Rochester |
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Metro New York Health Care for All |
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New York Progressive Action Network |
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New York State Nurses Association |
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Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition |
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New York Working Families Party |
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Signatories Academy of Medical & Public Health Services, Inc. |
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ACT UP/NY |
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African Services Committee |
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Anti-Racism Committee and Episcopal Diocese of New York |
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Arab-American Family Support Center |
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Black Lives Matter Brooklyn |
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Bronx Park East Community Association-BPECA |
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Broome Tioga Green Party |
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Building Bridges in Brookhaven |
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Callen-Lorde Community Health Center |
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Capital District Alliance for Universal Health Care |
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Care Packages for the Homeless |
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Caribbean Equality Project |
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Carroll Gardens Association |
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CCoHope Indivisible |
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Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY |
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CGDSA - Kacee Womack |
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Chhaya Community Development Corporation |
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Children's Defense Fund - New York |
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Chinese Progressive Association |
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Christ Church Riverdale Social Justice Ministry |
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Círculo de la Hispanidad |
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Citizens of Hudson |
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Coalition for Asian American Children and Families |
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Coalition for Economic Justice |
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Coalition For Family Justice 501(c)3 |
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Columbia-Greene Democratic Socialists of America |
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Commission on the Public's Health System |
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Committee of Inters and Residents SEIU |
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Community League of The Heights Inc. |
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Community Voices Heard |
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Concerned Citizens For Change |
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Crown Heights Tenant Union |
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Dance Artists National Collective |
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Democratic Socialists of America (Buffalo Local) |
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Democratic Socialists of America (High Peaks) |
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Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse Inc. |
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DSI International Inc |
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Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance |
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Eastern Southern Tier Poor People's Campaign Committee |
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Emerald Isle Immigration Center |
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Empire State Indivisible |
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Fifth Avenue Committee |
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Finger Lakes 4 New York Health, Empire State Indivisible |
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Forestdale, Inc. |
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Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research (FIAR) |
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FPWA (Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies) |
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Gowri Parameswaran |
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Grand St. Settlement |
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Grassroots Action New York |
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Gray Panthers NYC |
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Green Party of New York |
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Greenwich House |
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HANAC, Inc. |
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Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network |
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Healthcare Equity Action League of New York |
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Hetrick-Martin Institute |
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Hispanic Federation |
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Housing and Services, Inc. |
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Hudson Valley Demands New York Health |
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India Home |
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Indivisible Mohawk Valley |
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Indivisible Nation BK |
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Innovation in Higher Education |
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Jacobs School Students for a National Health Program |
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Jewel Human Services Inc. |
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Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) |
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Julie Wegener Piano Studio |
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Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice |
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Korean Community Services |
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La Colmena |
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Laal NYC |
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Labor Activists for NY Health |
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League of Women Voters of St. Lawrence County, New York |
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Literacy Assistance Center |
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Long Island Activists |
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Long Island Progressive Coalition |
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Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc. |
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Manhattan Progressive Action Network |
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MD Sandra Turner |
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Medicaid Matters NY |
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Mekong NYC |
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MinKwon Center for Community Action |
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Mixteca Organization, Inc. |
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NAACP New York State Conference |
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Nassau County DSA |
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National Action Network Political Action Committee |
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National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City (NAMI-NYC) |
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National Women's Liberation |
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New York Lawyers for the Public Interest |
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New York Public Interest Research Group |
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New York State Council of Churches |
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New York State Poor People's Campaign |
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No. Country Access to Health Care Committee |
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Nonprofit Finance Fund |
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North American Climate, Conservation and Environment(NACCE) |
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North Country NYPAN |
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Northwest Bronx Indivisible |
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NY Indivisible |
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NY Metro Committees of Correspondence for Democracy & Socialism |
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NY02 Indivisible |
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NYCD16 Indivisible |
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NYPAN Greene |
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NYPAN of the Southern Finger Lakes |
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Osborn Unlimited |
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Our Revolution |
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P03 |
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PEER: Progressive East End Reformers |
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PEER/NYPAN |
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People's Theatre Project |
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Phoebe Brown |
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Physicians for a National Health Program - New York Metro |
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PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) |
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Polonians Organized to Minister to Our Community, Inc. |
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Positive Action Mohawk Valley |
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Power of Two, Project of the Fund for the City of New York |
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Pride Center of Staten Island |
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Professional Nurses Association of Ulster County |
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Progressive American Community Empowerment |
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Progressive Women of NY |
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Public Issues Committee, Long Island Council of Churches |
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Putnam Progressives |
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Queens Public Library |
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Reproductive Health Access Project, New York Chapter |
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Residents Allied for the Future of Tioga |
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Rise and Resist |
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Rockland United |
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Roxbury Wine and Spirits |
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Sakhi for South Asian Women |
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Sampreshan Inc |
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Saratoga Health Committee Saratoga Progressive Action |
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Saratoga Immigration Coalition |
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Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corporation |
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Small Yet Elegant Events |
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SNaHP - Downstate Health Sciences University |
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Social Concerns Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of New York |
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Solidarity Committee of the Capital District |
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South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) |
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South Central Brooklyn United for Progress |
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Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center |
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Students for a National Health Plan (SUNY Upstate) |
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Suffolk Progressives |
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Syracuse Peace Council |
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The Actors Fund |
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The Korean American Family Service Center |
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Time's Up! |
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Together We Will Long Island |
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Tompkins County Progressives |
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Treatment Action Group |
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Troy Area Labor Council |
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Ulster Activists |
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Union of Black Episcopalians New York Chapter |
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Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Glens Falls |
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United Neighborhood Houses |
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Upper Hudson Green Party |
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Uptown Progressive Action |
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Urban Pathways |
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Welcome Home Midwifery |
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WESPAC Foundation, Inc. |
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Westchester Citizen Therapists |
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Westchester for Change |
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Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health |
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WNY Healthcare for All |
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Woodside on the Move |
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Worker Justice Center of New York |
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Workers' Center of Central New York |
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Young Invincibles |
Updated 1/26/2021. To have your organization sign on, please complete this form.
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