The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
Executive Chamber
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Hochul:
The undersigned urge you to issue a 30-day amendment to the FY25 Executive Budget, rescinding the proposed transfer of $100 million from the IOLA Fund to the State General Fund. IOLA is a dedicated fiduciary fund derived solely from the interest on attorney escrow accounts – with no taxpayer monies – and is earmarked exclusively to support civil legal services. Ethics opinions approving attorney use of IOLA accounts were expressly predicated on the IOLA Fund enhancing civil legal services to lowincome New Yorkers. Therefore, diversion of any IOLA interest to the General Fund could jeopardize the legal profession’s ethical basis for participating in the IOLA Fund.
IOLA funding protects vulnerable New Yorkers. In FY2023, the 81 IOLA Grantees closed over 307,000 cases benefitting more than 639,000 New Yorkers, the vast majority of whom faced challenges involving the essentials of life – food, shelter, jobs, and access to health care, including issues tied to the migrant crisis. More funding is needed, not less. Civil legal aid providers are already significantly underfunded and face reduced resources. In December 2023, the New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice reported to the Chief Judge that an additional $1 billion in annual funding would be needed to close the justice gap in New York. IOLA revenue is tied to volatile interest rates. To ensure stability of the nonprofit legal aid sector and the services they provide to vulnerable New Yorkers, an IOLA Fund reserve is necessary. The economic crisis in 2008 crashed IOLA revenue for over 12 years. Interest rates have only risen recently and are projected to drop in 2024.
Legal services benefit the New York State economy. Independent economic analyses show the overall financial benefit of all IOLA Grantee work to the New York economy in FY23 topped $3.5 billion and 8,000 jobs. In its 40-year history, IOLA’s revenue has never been swept to the General Fund. We look forward to your support in maintaining the integrity of this dedicated, fiduciary fund earmarked exclusively for civil legal aid.
SIGNATORIES ATTACHED
CC: Andrea Stewart-Cousins, President Pro Tempore & Majority Leader, New York State Senate
Carl E. Heastie, NYS Assembly Speaker, New York State Assembly
Michael Gianaris, Deputy Majority Leader, New York State Senate
Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader, New York State Assembly
Liz Krueger, NYS Senate Chair, Finance Committee
Helene E. Weinstein, NYS Assembly Chair, Committee on Ways and Means
Brad Hoylman-Sigal, NYS Senate Chair, Judiciary Committee
Charles D. Lavine, NYS Assembly Chair, Judiciary Committee
Jamaal T. Bailey, NYS Senate Chair, Committee on Codes
Jeffrey Dinowitz, NYS Assembly Chair, Codes Committee
Brian Kavanagh, NYS Senate Chair, Committee on Housing, Construction & Community Development
Linda B. Rosenthal, NYS Assembly Chair, Committee on Housing
Signatories
(as of February 8, 2024)
Access Justice Brooklyn
Adriene Holder, Chief Attorney of the Civil Practice,
The Legal Aid Society
Advocates for Children of New York
Aimee R. Churchill
Andrea Panjwani, Esq., Chief Legal Officer, Center
for Safety & Change
Andrew Cuddy
Andrew F. Emborsky, Esq., Advocacy Director,
Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
Anne Dyring Riley, Board Member, Legal Aid
Society of Rochester
Barbara Finkelstein, Co-Chair, Westchester County
Right to Counsel Coalition
Benjamin DeMarsh
Beth Finkel, AARP New York, State Director
Brian R. Welsh, President, Bar Association of Erie
County, Volunteer Lawyers Project, Inc
Brooklyn Defender Services
Bryan Hetherington, Hetherington Consulting
CAMBA/ CAMBA Legal Services
Carla M Palumbo, President & CEO, The Legal Aid
Society of Rochester, New York
Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese
of New York
Catholic Migration Services
Cathy A. Cramer, Esq., Chief Executive Officer,
Family Legal Care
Center for Elder Law & Justice, Karen L. Nicolson,
Esq., CEO/Executive Director
Center for Elder Law & Justice
Center for Family Representation
Central American Refugee Center - CARECEN NY
Child and Family Services of Erie County
City Bar Justice Center
Clifford G. Tsan, Past-President, Volunteer Lawyers
Project of CNY, Inc.
Co-Counsel NYC
Community Service Society of New York
Cristina Puccia
David Condliffe, Esq, Executive Director, Center for
Community Alternatives, Inc.
David L. Bach, President & CEO, Unity House of
Troy, Inc.
David M. Brodsky, Independent Arbitrator
David Schopp, Executive Director, The Legal Aid
Bureau of Buffalo
David Udell, Executive Director, National Center for
Access to Justice at Fordham Law
David Wright
Deborah Wolf Miller, Esq.
Dennis Parker
Disability Rights New York
Douglas Ruff
Eileen E. Buholtz, Esq.
Elizabeth M. Guggenheimer, Executive Director,
Lawyers Alliance for New York
Equal Justice Works
Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers
Project
Signatories
(as of February 8, 2024)
Evan A. Davis, former Counsel to Governor Mario
Cuomo and President of the New York City Bar
Association
Frank H. Hiscock Legal Aid Society
Fund for Modern Courts
Goddard Riverside Community Center - Law Project
Heather Axford, Director, Central American Legal
Assistance (CALA)
Hedwig O'Hara, Legal Director at Lawyers Alliance
for New York
Heidi Dennis, Executive Director, Rural Law Center
Her Justice
Housing Conservation Coordinators
Hudson Valley Justice Center
Immigrant ARC
Immigration Law & Justice New York
In Our Own Voices, Inc.
JASA|Legal Services for Elder Justice (JASA|LSEJ),
Donna Dougherty, Senior Director, Attorney-inCharge
Jean C. Sweet, Member Loan Analyst, Family First
of NY FCU
Jean Murphy
Jeff Senter
Jeffrey Ziemba, Secretary/Treasurer, Teamsters Local
264
Jessica Rose, Esq., Executive Director, Brooklyn
Legal Services Corporation A
Jill M. Cicero, Managing Partner, The Cicero Law
Firm LLP
Joan Kohout, Esq.
John Beckley
John Park, MinKwon Center for Community Action
John S. Siffert
Jonathan Feldman, Rochester, NY
Journey’s End Refugee Services
JustCause
Justice in Aging
Kate Kressmann-Kehoe
Kevin F. Ryan, Esq., Chief Executive Officer,
Monroe County Bar Association
Kevin M. Hogan
Kevin S. Beckfod, Empire Justice Center Executive
Board Member/Operations Executive
Kitty Bressington, CFP, CDFA, Board Chair, Legal
Aid Society of Rochester
Kristen King, Esq.
Kristen M. Clark, CPA, Volunteer Treasurer and
Board Member, Empire Justice Center
Kristin Brown, President & CEO, Empire Justice
Center
La Marr J. Jackson, Esq.
Laura Heltz, Executive Director, US Army Veteran,
Veterans Outreach Center, Inc.
Lauren Breen, Executive Director, Neighborhood
Legal Services
Lee, Emerson & Palmer, LLP
Legal Action Center, Paul N. Samuels,
Director/President
Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc
Legal Momentum, The Women's Legal Defense and
Education Fund
Signatories
(as of February 8, 2024)
Legal Services of Central New York, Dennis A.
Kaufman, Executive Director
Leslie H. Fox, MBA, CFO Business Resources
Lillian M. Moy
Lisa Schreibersdorf, Executive Director, Brooklyn
Defender Services
Liz Novak Henderson, Chief Operating Officer,
Monroe County Bar Association
Long Island Advocacy Center, Inc
Loraine Schoenfield, Board Member, LawNY
Lori M. O'Brien, Executive Director, Legal
Assistance of Western New York
Lourdes Rosado, President & General Counsel,
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Lynn Poster-Zimmerman, PC
M. Catherine Richardson, Esq., past President of
NYSBA
Make the Road New York
Mark O'Brien, Executive Director, Pro Bono Net
Mary M. Miner, Esq., Board President, Volunteer
Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc.
Mobilization for Justice, Inc., Tiffany Liston,
Executive Director
Molly S. Carr, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Jewish
Family Services of Western New York
Monroe County Bar Association, Rochester, NY
My Sisters' Place
Nancy A. Spiegel
Nassau Suffolk Law Services, Victoria Osk,
Executive Director
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
Neighbors Link
New Economy Project
New York City Anti-Violence Project
New York County Lawyers Association
New York Immigration Coalition
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)
New York State Coalition Against Domestic
Violence
New York State Dispute Resolution Association, Inc.
Nic Rangel, Esq., Executive Director, Legal Aid
Society of Northeastern New York
NMIC, Rodrigo Sanchez-Camus, Director of Legal
Services
Norman A. Kaplan, Attorney at Law
Oneida County Bar Association, Paula J. Eannace,
Esq., President
Onondaga County Bar Association
Part of the Solution (POTS)
Paul D. Bennett, Member, NY Bar #1102896
Paul M. Ryther, Attorney at Law
Paulette Campbell, Interim Executive Director of
Western New York Law Center
Phillip R. Hurwitz, Esq.
Pro Bono Partnership, Inc.
Professor John D. Feerick, Founder and Senior
Counsel, Feerick Center for Social Justice, Fordham
Law School
Queens County Bar Association
Signatories
(as of February 8, 2024)
Queens Defenders
Rachel Chazin Halperin, CEO, Legal Services of the
Hudson Valley
Rae A. Clark Jr.
Raun Rasmussen, Executive Director, Legal Services
NYC
Raymond E. Cornelius, NYS Supreme Court Justice,
Ret.
Richard A. Dollinger (Ret.), retired member of the
Court of Claims and the New York State Senate
Richard N. Chapman, Esq.
RiseBoro Community Partnership - Legal
Empowerment & Assistance Program (LEAP)
Robert E. Juceam
Robert S. Robbin
Roman A. Misula
Rural Law Center of New York
Ruth Jacobs, Retired Attorney
Safe Passage Project
Sally Fisher Curran, Esq., Executive Director,
Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc.
Sanctuary for Families
Sareer A. Fazili, Esq
Scott A. Forsyth
Sharon Sherman, Executive Director, Greater
Syracuse Tenants Network
Stanley Martin, Rochester City Council Member AtLarge
Stephen Brooks, Former General Counsel, The
Interest on Lawyer Account Fund of the State of New
York
The Bronx Defenders
The Center for Community
The Center for Youth
The Door, A Center for Alternatives
The Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.
The Legal Aid Society of Rochester, Denine Carr,
Esq
The Legal Project
The New York Community Trust
Thomas G. Smith, Esq., Past President of the Monroe
County Bar Association
Tiffany A. Liston, Executive Director, Mobilization
for Justice
United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger
Lakes
UnLocal
Urban Justice Center
Vera Institute of Justice
Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY, Inc.
Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS)
William A. Shapiro, Esq.
Youth Represent
Yvonne Ryan
Zaya Guessa