TESTIMONY: Empire Justice Center Testifies at Joint Legislative Hearing on Public Protection

Empire Justice Center President and CEO Kristin Brown Testifies at Joint Legislative Hearing on Public Protection.

In our testimony, we ask you to support the following:  

1. Support full appropriation authority of $102.5 million for the Interest on Lawyers Account (IOLA) as directed by IOLA’s Board of Trustees to fund civil legal services
2. Support of the Office of Court Administration budget as proposed, including the increase and COLA for Judiciary Civil Legal Services
3. Support of the Legislature’s allocation of the Legal Service Assistance Fund (LSAF)
4. Continue to ensure support for Victims of Crime in the Office of Victim Services (OVS)
5. Ensure privacy for people with court-ordered name changes
6. Reform New York’s contracting and payment processes through uniformity, streamlined systems, identifying best practices and efficiencies to be implemented across contracts and agencies    

You can read the full testimony in the available PDF.

You can watch the video of the Oral Testimony on YouTube. Kristin’s testimony begins around the 7:02:30 mark.