Sen. Sue Serino in a statement on Sunday called for more funding to be added to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget plan to combat Lyme and tick-borne diseases.

Serino, a Republican who represents the Poughkeepsie area, wants the money to be added into Cuomo's 30-day budget amendments, due out next month.

The state Senate last year in its budget plan called for $1 million to combat the issue, but the money was ultimately left out of the final agreement.

Budgets between 2015 and 2018 have included at least $400,000 to combat Lyme and tick-borne illnesses.

"Last year, for the first time since I took office, we saw funding to combat Lyme and TBDs actually be put on the chopping block," Serino said in a statement. "The state has an opportunity to be the leader in combatting this epidemic that has had devastating impacts on far too many New Yorkers, but year after year, it is left up to the State Senate to include any amount of funding in the final budget. That method has now proven to be unreliable and I am urging the Governor to lead the way in reaffirming the state’s commitment to combatting this epidemic by including at least $1 million for research, education and prevention in his 30-Day Budget Amendments.”

State health officials have testified there are more than 10,000 cases of Lyme and tick-related disease each year.