Legislative Bulletin: New year, new session!
You have new representation in Albany!
LeadingAge New York is pleased to announce that we have retained new legislative and regulatory counsel. Hinman Straub, a well-known and well-respected law firm in Albany will be assisting LeadingAge New York in developing legislative and regulatory proposals, analyzing budget proposals, legislation and regulation – as well as political developments, and lobbying the legislature and executive on behalf of our members.
State of the State Address Kicks of the 2013 Legislative Session
Gov. Cuomo gave his annual State of the State Address this past Wednesday, calling on the Legislature to act on a number of his priorities, including: gun control, raising minimum wage, women’s rights, access to Hurricane Sandy aide and a $1 billion housing proposal. In the written text of the governor’s speech, New York Rising, the governor also addressed a number of items pertaining to health care and long term care. Please see the memo above from LeadingAge New York’s new legislative and regulatory counsel for further information.
With the 2013 Legislative Session now underway, we now await the governor’s executive budget proposal, scheduled to be released on Tues., Jan. 22, followed by about eight weeks of budget negotiations. A final budget will need to be finalized by Thurs., March 21, when the Legislature is scheduled to go into recess for the Passover and Easter break. This expedited schedule will make your advocacy even more important.
LeadingAge New York’s 2013 Advocacy Strategy
LeadingAge New York staff has been working over the past several weeks to get prepared for the battles that lie ahead. Our members are facing unprecedented challenges this year with continued budget cuts and a statewide transition of all Medicaid recipients in to managed long term care. We have developed an agenda and strategy to help you effectively communicate with your legislators. Click here to learn about LeadingAge New York’s budgetary, legislative and regulatory priorities for 2013, and find out what you can do to make sure that your organizations, those you serve and employ are protected throughout this year’s legislative session.
Join us for Advocacy Day on Feb. 5: The New York State Legislature has a lot of new faces this year, and their first order of business will be passing a balanced budget in the face of a $1 billion deficit. Join us and tell your representatives about the challenges you are facing at home and how the proposed budget will impact your organization.
Register today to meet with the newly elected legislators and reconnect with incumbent legislators to educate them about the important work you are doing and the daily challenges you face. Make sure they hear from you before passing bills that affect your industry and your mission! Access all Advocacy Day materials here.
LeadingAge New York’s Government Relations department and representatives from Hinman Straub have been hard at work meeting with members of the Legislature and central staff to discuss the Association’s 2013 agenda and budgetary priorities. We will be sure to keep you posted as budget negotiations develop.
New Senate begins to take shape
The State Senate held an organizational session on Wednesday in which they presented the new Senate Rules and elected the Senate Leadership. The Senate Republicans and the Independent Democratic Caucus have formed a coalition government in which they will share control of the Senate on alternating days. The Senate Republican Conference re-elected Senator Skelos at its leader and the Senate IDC elected Senator Klein as its leader. The Senate Democrats recently elected Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins as its new leader.
Committee assignments have yet to be decided but may be announced as early as Monday. Nevertheless, we expect that Senator Hannon will continue on as Chair of the Senate Health Committee.
The biggest challenge to announcing committee appointments is that there is still one seat in the Senate that remains to be decided. The 46th Senate District race between Cecilia Tkaczyk and George Amedore went to the Appellate Court on Monday. The Court decided that additional ballots must be opened to determine a final winner. We will continue to monitor this race and keep you updated as it could cause some disruption in the Senate until we have a final outcome.
Assembly gets a new Majority Leader
The 2013-14 Assembly looks very different with the retirement of many longstanding members. There are more than 20 new legislators, there will be several new committee chairs and a new Majority Leader was appointed on Wednesday. Sheldon Silver was once again selected as the Speaker and in his first act, he appointed Rochester Assemblyman Joe Morelle as his Majority Leader. Morelle has been a longtime friend of LeadingAge New York and its members and we are pleased to have him elevated to Majority Leader. He will continue to be a strong advocate for health care, long term care and seniors. The Republican Conference selected Brian Kolb as their Minority Leader.
We expect to see appointments to committees announced soon and will keep you updated as we learn more. There will be new Chairs for the Insurance and Housing Committees – and perhaps others as legislators are moved around – but we expect Assemblyman Gottfried to remain as Chair of the Assembly Health Committee.
Committee News
The Legislature will begin holding committee meetings as early as next week. Of importance are:
Assembly Health Committee
Tues., Jan. 15, 10:00 a.m., Rm. 823 LOB
A.1989 (Gottfried)/S.2080 (Hannon): This bill relates to accountable care organizations and would work to convene a work group to see consider whether an ACO should be enabled to serve in place of a managed care plan.