Budget Schedule released, Another Joint Budget Hearing and Advocacy Day Update
Housing Budget Hearing
LeadingAge New York will be providing written testimony at today’s Housing Budget Hearing. The public hearing will start at 9:30 and you are able to watch the hearing live here. LeadingAge NY is advocating for the State to invest in affordable housing with support services to provide low-income seniors with access to safe places to live and basic supports in the community, allowing them to age-in-place and delaying or preventing the need for high-cost services funded by Medicaid. We are asking the Legislature to:
- Build on the successful HUD service coordinator model by allocating $10 million for a State Resident Advisor Program to fund resident advisors in independent senior housing; and
- Allocate $50 million in annual capital investments over the next five years, along with $4.5 million to create and fund a rental assistance component to accelerate development of affordable rental units for seniors.
Minimum Wage and Ratios at Health/Medicaid Budget Hearing
On Mon., Jan. 25th, LeadingAge NY’s Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy, Ami Schnauber testified at the Health/Medicaid Budget Hearing. If you missed it, her testimony can be viewed here five hours and 47 minutes into the hearing. Please take the time to look over our submitted testimony.
The Commissioner for the Department of Health (DOH), Dr. Howard Zucker and NYS Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson, were the first to provide testimony and answered legislators’ questions for over four hours.
Many lawmakers expressed concern about the Governor’s proposed minimum wage increase and its impact on health care providers. They asked how nonprofit and public health entities that provide health care to New Yorkers, many through contracts with the state, will be able to absorb the higher wages that the Governor has proposed. Dr. Zucker and Helgerson said they appreciated the concern and would work with lawmakers and providers to address this. However, they noted that the increase in minimum wage would be phased in over several years and they felt that the need for a stable productive workforce offset any negative outcomes that may arise from the increase in wages.
LeadingAge NY, the Health Care Association of NYS (HANYS), the NYS Association of Health Care Providers, the New York State Health Facilities Association (NYSHFA), and the Home Care Association of NYS all testified to the significant impact the minimum wage proposal would have on providers and stressed the importance of the State fully funding any increase to the minimum wage. All the associations shared our joint estimates that the proposed increase would increase compensation costs for health care providers by $3 billion annually when fully implemented. Of this amount, nursing homes would incur an additional $600 million cost, and home care/personal care agencies would incur a $1.72 billion cost.
On a positive note, Assemblyman Goodell asked the Commissioner what his thoughts were on staffing ratios. Dr. Zucker noted that it was a complex issue with staffing needs being different across sectors and within buildings. This has long been our message to lawmakers and we are very pleased that Dr. Zucker understands the complexity of the issue and that One Size Does not Fit All! Text RATIOS to 52886 and let your lawmakers know what you think!
Assembly Launches Anti-Poverty Work Group
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has announced the appointment of an Assembly Majority anti-poverty work group to undertake an evaluation of the drastic increase of New Yorkers living in poverty and identify solutions to combat it. Of significance to LeadingAge NY members, the work group will consider issues including supportive housing, rental assistance; fair labor practices, including a meaningful minimum wage; and access to health care. Assembly Health Chair Gottfried and Aging Chair Cymbrowitz have both been appointed to the Workgroup.
In announcing his appointment to the Workgroup, Assemblymember Cymbrowitz, chair of the Committee on Aging, said, "According to the 2013 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, approximately one in ten New Yorkers aged 65 and over are currently living in poverty. I look forward to working with my colleagues to improve prevention efforts and find any gaps in services that may require review or may lead to the creation of new initiatives that can reverse this trend. Older adults are living longer due to better health and medical advances, but their quality of life can suffer when they need to make difficult sacrifices with severely limited resources."
Joint Legislative Budget Schedule Released
On Fri., Jan. 22nd, the Assembly and Senate leadership announced an agreement for the joint legislative budget schedule. The schedule’s aim is to have the 6th on-time state budget in a row for New York State. The schedule is as follows:
- Feb. 25th (tentative) - Senate & Assembly Fiscal Committee Economic & Revenue
Reports release - Feb. 29th (tentative) - Joint Revenue Forecasting Conference
- March 1st (on or before) - Revenue Consensus Report
- March 14th - Senate & Assembly Budget Actions
- March 15th - Joint Senate & Assembly Budget Conference Committees commence
- March 22nd - Final Report of the Joint Conference Committee
- March 28-31 - Joint Legislative Budget bills taken up by Senate & Assembly
This is an important timeline because it assists us in targeting our advocacy efforts related to major budget issues. Your LeadingAge NY advocacy team will keep you up to date as budget negotiations move forward and encourage follow-up advocacy efforts as needed.
Governor Launches Campaign to Pass Paid Family Leave
Following up on his Executive Budget Proposal, Gov. Cuomo has announced the launch of the “Strong Families, Strong New York” campaign to push for passage of his paid family leave proposal. As we summarized in our budget analysis to members, the Governor has proposed a 12 week employee-funded paid family leave policy to care for a new child or a sick family member. It would also guarantee employees the right to return to their current job upon their return.
Gov. Cuomo said: “There are times in life when family comes first – like when a child is born, a loved one is sick, or a parent is dying – and I believe everyone deserves the right to be there in those times. The lack of paid family leave is a rampant economic injustice that runs against the grain of the American promise. It’s unacceptable that people are still forced to choose between caring for their families and keeping their jobs, and we’re going to change that in New York. We’re going to pass 12 weeks of paid family leave and stand up for what’s really important in life – and I urge all New Yorkers to join us in this fight.”
Advocacy Day Update
You likely received an email from Ami Schnauber last week sharing our Budget Initiatives document and urging additional participants for Advocacy Day. We are pleased that participation has grown from 44 to 70 participants, but we can do better! We strongly encourage you to join us for Advocacy Day scheduled for Tues., Feb. 9th. You can register for Advocacy Day here.
LeadingAge NY will be hosting a conference call this Thurs., Feb. 4th at 10:30 to discuss Advocacy Day, our message to legislators, and to answer any of your questions.
- The Dial-in number is 1-866-380-9615 and the guest access code is 548776 #.
We are still working on scheduling meetings with key legislative leaders and Committee Chairs, but we still urge you to contact your legislative representatives to schedule your own meetings. We need every Legislator to know how the Governor’s budget proposal will impact providers in their district. The more legislators that hear our message, the better! If you need assistance in finding out who your legislative representatives are, please visit our Advocacy webpage and use the Find My Legislators tool.
Special Elections Announced
Gov. Cuomo has scheduled four special elections to be held on April 19th, the same day at the presidential primaries in New York. Elections will be held for the following seats:
Assembly District 62 (formerly held by Joseph Borelli) - Richmond County
Assembly District 59 (formerly held by Roxanne Persaud) - Kings County
Assembly District 65 (formerly held by Sheldon Silver) - New York County
Senate District 09 (formerly held by Dean Skelos) - Nassau County