WE DID IT! Intro. 1259 is our FIRST BILL to originate with our membership--and it was passed today by NYC Council! 1259 was developed by our team, brought to introduction, pushed by our membership, opened to hearing, and finally voted to passage today thanks to the hard work of our members and team. We give our hearty thanks and congratulations to all of our members who gave input, took action, and supported our efforts with your dues and donations. This would not have been possible without you!

After negotiation with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, the NYC Council announced today that the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget is now finalized.

Earlier this year we set a Spring Agenda that included protecting and increasing NYC's budget for veterans, and adoption of a needed exemption from rising school taxes for veteran homeowners. We're both proud and grateful to our members and allies who helped us achieve results for our community.

Take a look at what's in the new budget for veterans, which will take effect on July 1, 2017:

A key piece of our Spring Policy Agenda was inclusion of the Alternative (School Tax) Exemption for Veterans in the city's budget for Fiscal Year 2018--and we're proud to announce that this was included in the final $85 billion budget deal reached by the Mayor and NYC Council last Friday evening!

Thanks to our member, Vietnam veteran, longtime advocate, and proud Staten Islander Lee Covino for leading the charge on this. Thanks to everyone who lobbied with us this spring, who rallied with us at the "Love Our Veterans" Rally on Valentine's Day, who testified and rallied and supported this legislative effort last December, who called and wrote letters to their representatives last fall, and who initially met with us at our stakeholder meeting on this important issue last July.

Special thanks to Council Member Steven Matteo for leading on this in NYC Council and his continuous advocacy for the more than 58,000 veteran homeowners who will now be entitled to long overdue tax relief. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

NYC Veterans Alliance Hits Major Milestones in 2016, Realizes Multiple Legislative & Policy Victories and Doubles Membership

Announces Intersections International as Fiscal Sponsor  

NEW YORK, NY – March 13, 2017 – NYC Veterans Alliance, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that empowers military veterans and their families to become politically active through four engaging programs – Policy & Legislative Advocacy, OurVeterans.NYC, Civic Leadership, and Get Ready to Run – today announced significant Organization milestones as well as a fiscal sponsorship with Intersections International, a New York City-based nonprofit organization dedicated to building community relationships and forging common ground.

We are immensely proud of our newest class of Get Ready to Run Fellows! January 6-9 was their challenge to push themselves through four days of intensive, long days and nights of training, networking, and working with their cohort members to grow and learn and develop as rising leaders getting ready to run for elected office.

Today we were proud to stand with Public Advocate Tish James, Council Member Jumaane Williams, Commissioner Loree Sutton, and Commissioner Carmelyn Malalis to mark the introduction of the bill we drafted and proposed last spring to amend NYC's human rights laws to include protections for veterans and military members. The bill's language has been updated to summarize this as "uniformed service," and express the most inclusive definition possible. We approved this change within the last few weeks, and we are proud to be part of moving this legislation forward. Below is the statement of Founding Director Kristen Rouse at today's press conference at City Hall:

On August 2, 2016, the NYC Veterans Alliance teamed up with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and NYC Votes to register new voters and inform voters on veterans issues. View our photos of this inspiring day:

by Kristen L. Rouse

On Tuesday evening, NYC Public Advocate Tish James presented the NYC Veterans Alliance with a Proclamation that says, in part:

Be it Resolved that I, Public Advocate for the City of New York, Letitia James, recognize the NYC Veterans Alliance as an organization worthy of our highest respect and esteem; and may it further be Proclaimed, that today, June 28, 2016, is a day to honor NYC Veterans Alliance.

This Proclamation is thanks to you! We are proud to add this to the two pens we received from Mayor Bill de Blasio when he signed bills that we advocated for into law--in addition to our string of successes over the last year that we hope you take as much pride in as we do.

by Kristen L. Rouse

I wanted to express my personal thanks to you for your continued support of the NYC Veterans Alliance as a grassroots startup, working to connect, advocate for, inform, and empower our community in ways that complement and enhance the work being done by so many here in NYC and beyond.

Last June our working group issued the first-ever policy paper on NYC veterans policy, the product of more than a dozen veterans and service providers. We held our first public event last July with the Forum on NYC Veterans Policy, featuring amazing veterans and advocates, and introduced by John Oliver. In August, we launched our Community Calendar, and since then have maintained continuous postings of nearly 500 events for veterans, service members, and their families across the NY Metro area as a free service to our community.

Since last year, we have brought our community together to source policy solutions. We’ve consistently spoken up and testified on issues important to our community, and received coverage in the news. We’ve collaborated with a number of different veterans organizations in NYC, and we continue to seek ways to empower and engage our community.

We’ve significantly influenced five local laws and policies that have been implemented, to include passage of landmark legislation creating the NYC Department of Veterans Services. We’ve sent veterans to Washington, D.C., for training and support to become more engaged as civic leaders and to run for elected office. We have ongoing dialogue with public officials on legislative initiatives and policy. And we’re actively working with leaders and innovators in civic tech to integrate new ideas and solutions to improve the lives of veterans, military members, and their families.

The weekend of March 18-22 was the official launch of our Get Ready to Run initiative, which took four NYC veterans on a four-day trip to Washington, D.C. The program will involve follow-on support and training for these four veterans, as well as future cohorts that we select, train, and support.

Watch and listen to what our four future candidates have to say about their Get Ready to Run experience during their visit to the Newseum: