On January 21, 2020, Deputy Director James Fitzgerald testified before the annual NYC Council hearing on oversight of the Department of Veterans' Services--the most important hearing of the year for the Committee on Veterans. With the recent release of Mayor de Blasio's Preliminary Budget, funding for DVS is proposed to increase. But the oversight hearing itself was sparsely attended by Veterans Committee members, who left their seats mostly vacant during the majority of the hearing, the exception being veteran spouse Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, who remained engaged with substantive questions. Committee Chair Chaim Deutsch, who announced his candidacy for another elected office that day, was not present for the full hearing. 

Below is the testimony delivered by Deputy Director Fitzgerald:

On Thursday, March 14, 2019, we presented testimony before the NYC Council's Committee on Veterans regarding oversight of the Fiscal Year 2020 budget for the NYC Department of Veterans' Services. Our testimony featured opposition to Mayor de Blasio's proposal to cut $63k from the budget, as well as concerns about staffing, accountability, and support from the Council. 

Below is the testimony presented: