Last-minute contract prevents closure of disability agency
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- February
- 26
The New York State Independent Living Council announced in an e-mailed press release Monday afternoon that it would be closing its operations and laying off staff Friday because it hasn’t had an approved contract with the state or received funding since October.
“We have exhausted our line of credit and believe we have just enough money to keep our basic infrastructure in place,” Christine Zachmeyer, council chairwoman, said in a statement. “It’s shameful that our staff has to pay the price for the failure of the state to process routine paperwork.”
But several hours later, the state Education Department announced that the problem had been settled. The state Comptroller’s Office approved a one-year contract Monday, and the Education Department told the council to expect a check by the end of the week ($98,500 for October, November, December and January), Education Department spokesman Tom Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn said the contract is for one year, rather than the usual three, because the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration has indicated the role of Independent Living Councils in all 50 states will be redrawn. The councils are responsible for developing, monitoring and evaluating a State Plan on Independent Living, which includes efforts to support disability rights advocacy and expand opportunities for youth with disabilities.
The three dozen Centers for Independent Living around the state were not affected by the contract dispute.
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on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 11:16 am by Cara Matthews.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
