Kirsten’s New York Minute: 10,000 Constituent Cases
This is an official news letter from the office of Senator Gillibrand. For further information, direct inquiries to her offioe.1. Keeping New Yorkers fed
With a funding shortfall looming, nearly 2 million low-income children and pregnant and postpartum women could lose access to critical food assistance through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). If WIC isn’t fully funded by Congress, millions of eligible applicants and current participants could be put on waiting lists — leaving them without the services they rely on indefinitely.
Kirsten is calling for $1.4 billion in federal funding for WIC to ensure low-income infants, young children, and pregnant and postpartum women nationwide can continue to have access to nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, health care referrals, and other important services.
2. Bringing federal $$$ back to New York
Kirsten is dedicated to bringing federal dollars home to New York.
Just this week, she delivered:
1. $15 million to build EV charging stations in the Bronx. Read more.
2. Over $1 million to finance flood damage repairs at Pinti Field Park in Rome. Read more.
3. Meeting with hostage families in Israel
Kirsten is committed to getting all hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas home.
This week, she traveled to Israel and met with the families of two New Yorkers who have been held hostage by Hamas for nearly 100 days.
4. WATCH: Fighting to get hostages home
After meeting with their families in Israel, Kirsten spoke on the Senate floor to tell the stories of innocent victims who were murdered by Hamas and those who are still being held hostage in Gaza.
5. Implementing historic military justice reforms
The Department of Defense announced that it will begin implementing Kirsten’s hard-fought military justice reforms. The DoD will now try sexual assault cases outside the military chain of command, instead having those cases handled by independent, trained professionals.
For nearly a decade, Kirsten fought alongside survivors, veterans, and legal experts to make this fundamental change and instill trust, confidence and professionalism in our military justice system.
6. Serving New York in 2023
Last year, Kirsten’s office handled nearly 10,000 constituent cases, and her team helped return over $61 million in federal benefits to New Yorkers.
Her office helped thousands of New Yorkers with issues ranging from passports to IRS challenges in 2023 – and she's eager to continue working on behalf of her constituents in 2024. Her office is able help with issues with: passports, federal taxes, the Social Security Administration, Medicare benefits, veterans benefits, the Small Business Administration, federal student loans, the World Trade Center Health Program, and much more.
7. Helping constituents get retirement benefits
When an Erie County constituent needed to secure her retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management, she contacted Kirsten's office for help. Kirsten's team reached out to OPM, and the constituent received $50,000+ in retroactive benefits.
