ALBANY – The state legislature has less than one month to agree on a budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year and State Senator Sue Serino (R, Hyde Park) brought together a consortium of fellow lawmakers and advocates on Tuesday to call for Lyme disease research and education funding to be included in the spending plan.
Serino said it is an uphill battle to have money included in the budget each year.
“According to the CDC, New York ranks second in the nation in reported confirmed cases of Lyme disease,” she said during a Zoom news conference. “We are here today because despite the statistics, the governor’s budget proposal has always been lacking on this front, but it has always been up to the legislature to add funding for research, education and prevention.”
Serino would like $1.5 million placed in the budget to address Lyme and other tick-borne disease research.
Supporting her effort is Senator Daphne Jordan, who said her district includes Columbia County, which she said is ground zero for Lyme disease.
