Press Releases

Today, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) issued the following statement in response to New York Governor Kathy Hochul's disparaging comments about New York's Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), in which she said the program had become a "racket." Congressman Lawler sent a letter to Governor Hochul earlier this week urging the reversal of changes to the CDPAP in the Governor's proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget, which but fiscal intermediaries out of business and risks the interruption of services for patients across New York.

"Governor Hochul's comments were an insult to the thousands of elderly and disabled New Yorkers enrolled in this program as well as to their caregivers," said Congressman Lawler. "President Truman used to have a sign on his desk that said 'the buck stops here.' Unfortunately, rather than accept responsibility for her disastrous mismanagement of this crucial program, Governor Hochul is blaming New Yorkers for the skyrocketing deficits caused by her own failed policies and forcing changes to CDPAP that could interrupt services for patients across the State. The program isn't the problem, Governor. It's time to stop passing the buck, own this mess, and start putting forward serious proposals to fix it."

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of the 118th Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.

A copy of the letter sent by Congressman Lawler to Governor Hochul is linked here.