HJYDE PARK – The deadline to adopt a new state budget is days away and there are no new dollars for Lyme and tick-borne disease research, education and prevention initiatives included in either one-house proposal by the Democrat-controlled Senate or Assembly.
With the Mid-Hudson Valley considered the epicenter of Lyme disease in New York, Senator Sue Serino (R, Hyde Park), was joined on Monday by advocates and patients in calling for at least $1.5 million to be included in the final budget slated to be passed by April 1.
Serino said each one-house bill includes lawmakers’ peet issues.
“It’s a political wish list for every political interest under the sun so to not include a single new dollar to combat the spread of Lyme and tick-borne diseases truly defies logic and sends a message to New Yorkers who have endured their impacts that they should continue to suffer in silence,” she said on Monday.
Jill Auerbach, a patient and advocate from Hudson Valley Lyme Disease Association, said ticks, Lyme and tick-borne diseases “are increasing in numbers and spreading geographically like wildfire.”
