Administrators in the Department of Catholic Schools are asking supporters to contact New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to support the Education Tax Credit proposal in his 2015 executive budget. The tax credit would help encourage donations to private scholarship funds, which officials believe would generation an additional $150 in awards for students and families.

Christian Riso, assistant superintendent of government services and special projects for the Diocese of Buffalo's Department of Catholic Schools, asked principals and advocates to forward a letter from Bishop Richard J. Malone, as well as instructions on how to contact Gov. Cuomo's office, to their entire school community. His letter follows:

"A new legislative session has begun and we continue to push for the adoption of the Education Investment Tax Credit, legislation that would encourage donations to organizations that provide Catholic School scholarships while also encouraging donations to public schools. We are asking for every member of your school community to help in two ways:
 
1. Call Gov. Cuomo at (518) 474-8390 and ask him include the Education Tax Credit proposal in his January 27th Executive Budget.  See the attached letter from Bishop Malone asking for these phone calls.
    a. When you call the Governor, you can choose to either leave a voice mail or talk directly to an assistant.
 
2. Email Gov. Cuomo and ask him include the Education Tax Credit proposal in his January 27th Executive Budget. See the email below for the direct link to this NYS Catholic Conference "Action Alert".
 
Please forward this Action Alert and the Bishop's letter to your entire school community by Friday, January 16th. The total time it takes to make one phone call and send one prewritten email is about 3 minutes. Please encourage your Parents, Staff and School Community to call and email the Governor before January 21st."