Legislature News, More New and Old Legislation, Unions Push for Nurse Staffing Ratios, Continued Advocacy Needed, Governor Cuomo Opioid Crisis Task Force
Legislature News
Yesterday, former State Majority Leader Dean Skelos was sentenced to five years and fined $500,000 after being convicted in Nov. on eight counts of corruption. His son, Adam Skelos was also involved and received a six-and-a-half year sentence for his part in the various plots.
Also yesterday, Assemblyman Tedisco announced that he would be running for the seat that Senator Farley will be vacating.
Senator Nozzolio is vacating his seat at the end of this year and there are multiple republicans interested in the seat. Read more about who is interested here.
Priority Legislation
S.6655 (Young) - This bill has been placed on the Senate Finance agenda next week and would ensure that individuals living in urban, underserved or rural areas receive the support and services they need. Individuals with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) are currently being served under the TBI waiver program when access to services are available. There are areas in the state where there is a lack of TBI service providers. LeadingAge NY supports this bill and our full memo of support can be found here.
Unions Still Pushing for Nurse Staffing Bill
On Tues., for the second time in less than a month, hundreds of members from the New York State Nurses Association, along with their union allies, came to the Capitol insisting that lawmakers pass a mandatory nurse staffing ratio law.
The A.8580-A (Gunther) Nurse Staffing Ratios bill which currently remains in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, would require acute-care facilities and nursing homes to meet minimum staff-to-patient ratios for RNs, LPNs and CNAs.
Advocacy: Session is winding down! It is more important than ever to let your lawmakers know that you oppose this irresponsible mandate on nursing homes. Even if you have taken action already, we cannot let up as your representatives continue to be pushed by the nurse unions. Please take action on our campaign by texting RATIOS to 52886 and email, tweet, Facebook message or call your lawmakers today!
ACF/assisted living Advocacy Day, Success and Continued Advocacy
On Wed., LeadingAge New York held its annual Adult Care Facilities/Assisted Living Advocacy Day to discuss the need for an SSI increase and the need to allow a nurse to practice within their full scope of practice in adult care facilities. We thank everyone that attended and contributed to making the day a success. Help us build support for our efforts by continuing to set up meetings with your local legislators to advocate. We continue to seek legislators to sponsor our Role of the Nurse legislation so your advocacy with local lawmakers is crucial. All the resources you need are available here: Local Advocacy Plan. After your meetings, make sure to fill out the feedback form to let us know how your meetings went.
CCRC Continued Advocacy
Even though the CCRC Advocacy Day was last week, that doesn’t mean our advocacy work is over. Help us to keep building support for our efforts by continuing to set up meetings with your local legislators to advocate. Make sure to look at resources we provided here. After your meetings, make sure to fill out the feedback form to let us know how your meetings went. It very important we receive feedback and follow-up with members.
New Bill Introduction: Medical Aid in Dying Act
Assemblywoman Paulin and Senator Savino have introduced a new bill, but not an old topic. The bill would require two physicians to confirm that an individual has a terminal illness and will pass within six months. After the physicians’ confirmation, it would then require patients to be referred to a mental health professional for an evaluation and two witnesses would have to confirm that the request made by the patient is voluntary. The full bill and bill memo can be viewed here. Also, read about the press conference and rally that was held on Tues.
Governor Cuomo Announce Task Force to Fight Opioid Crisis
On Tues., Cuomo launched a task force charged with developing a comprehensive plan to end heroin and opioid addiction in New York State. Opioid addiction continues to be a national and state problem. The Governor hopes to change this in New York State. Read the full press release here.