Celebrating our 2025 Legislative Session Victories
From ensuring New York State continues to invest in its diverse AAPI communities to strengthening language access policies in our healthcare system, CACF and our incredible coalition of community-based organizations have worked tirelessly this legislative session to ensure that AAPI communities are seen, supported, and uplifted.
Read on to discover more about these impactful wins!
The historic $30 Million AAPI Equity Budget has been restored in the FY26 Budget!
After months of collective advocacy led by CACF, the over 130 AAPI-led and -serving community-based organizations that make up the CACF and Asian American Federation co-led AAPI Equity Budget Coalition successfully worked to restore the historic $30 million of NY State funding in this year’s New York State Budget!
We are deeply grateful for Governor Hochul, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Heastie, whose collective support for the AAPI Equity Budget sends a clear message that AAPI New Yorkers deserve to be supported through our State Budget. We also send our gratitude to our
AAPI Equity Budget champions Assemblymember Grace Lee and Senator John Liu and the entire APA Task Force for making this investment in our communities possible.
Read our full statement here.
Thanks to CACF's 18% and Growing Campaign, NYC Will Continue to Invest in AAPI New Yorkers
As for NYC, CACF is thrilled to share that the cornerstone programs of our 18% and Growing budget advocacy campaign — the AAPI Community Support Initiative, the Communities of Color Nonprofit Stabilization Fund (CCNSF), and Access Health NYC — have all been restored by New York City Council in the FY26 Budget!
We thank City Council and all of the members of our 18% and Growing campaign for protecting these critical initiatives. Read our full statement here.
Our CACF-Authored Data Disaggregation Bill is Introduced at City Council
We are proud to say that our bill Int 1134 is the most inclusionary bill related to race and ethnicity data collection that NYC Council has ever seen. Head here for a recap of our June 16 testimonies and rally in support of this critical legislation, which was introduced by Councilmember Shekar Krishnan.
The AANHPI Education Equity Act passes!
With the passage of the CACF-supported AANHPI Education Equity Act in the New York State Legislature, New York State is one step closer to getting an AANHPI curriculum integrated into our classrooms. As co-founders of the REACH Coalition, CACF is proud to see this milestone achieved through years of persistent advocacy and coalition-building by our partners and Senator John Liu and Assemblymember Grace Lee. Check out this QNS piece to discover more.
A Critical Language Access Bill Heads to Governor Hochul’s Desk
We are proud to support Assemblymember Nily Rozic’s bill A387B, which would require all hospitals across New York to establish comprehensive language assistance programs for patients with limited English proficiency and while also creating safeguards to ensure children under 16 will not have to translate for their family members in most medical settings. For more on this legislation, click here.
CACF and our member organizations urges Gov Hochul to sign both of these critical pieces of legislation into law and for NYC Council to vote on Int. 1134 as soon as possible.
As we celebrate these local and state victories, we are ever-aware of the changing federal landscape, especially when it comes to recent cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplace. We want to assure our supporters, members and partners that CACF will continue to advocate for the preservation and expansion of health access for all New Yorkers.
Our communities are stronger when we work together to speak as one. Be sure to be on the lookout for more ways you can join us as we continue to work on behalf of all marginalized New Yorkers.
For more information, please email Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF’s Senior Communications Coordinator, at lgandhi@cacf.org.
