As Governor Kathy Hochul grapples with intense scrutiny over her planned overhaul of New York's home care program, her administration is now stepping up efforts to seek a formal probe into the funding behind the $10 million ad campaign targeting the proposed changes. The advertisement offensive, orchestrated by the Alliance to Protect Home Care, has accused the governor of compromising the program that serves the elderly and disabled, painting a doomsday scenario of care failure and corporate takeover. According to a report by Gothamist, State Health Commissioner James McDonald sent a request for investigation to Attorney General Letitia James and the state ethics board, calling out potentially unethical funding practices.
Entangled in a complex web of fiscal arrangements, the Alliance to Protect Home Care's campaign funding raises questions about donor transparency and compliance with the state's lobbying laws. The funding appears to funnel mainly through a lesser-known nonprofit, United CDPAP, which has remained tight-lipped about its benefactors. McDonald, in a letter cited by Gothamist, accused these entities of deliberately trying to "scare CDPAP consumers about the impacts of the new CDPAP structure."
However, the matter of who exactly is bankrolling this hefty advertising sprint remains cloaked in ambiguity. Reports by New York Focus illuminate that the donations to the Alliance are being rerouted through United CDPAP, but the original sources of these funds are still under wraps. This chain of donations has drawn scrutiny since state lobbying regulations mandate transparency to avoid the use of front entities that mask the true patrons of lobbying activities.
The contentious overhaul of the $9 billion Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, proposed by Hochul, has sparked a mix of resistance and support, with opposing groups fearing a handover to a sole company could detrimentally affect service quality. Defending the Alliance's intentions, Bryan O’Malley insisted in a statement obtained by New York Focus that United CDPAP is a social welfare organization aligned with the Alliance's mission and has followed all related reporting and disclosure requirements. Yet to date, no detailed breakdown of the United CDPAP's donors has been made public, despite multiple inquiries and the state's call for transparency.
