Legislative Bulletin: Executive Budget Proposal Released
Governor Unveils Executive Budget
Following private briefings with the Senate and Assembly, Governor Cuomo released his FY 2018 Executive Budget to the public late Tuesday evening. The budget, titled “Excelsior, Ever Upward,” proposes a $152.3 billion spending plan and largely tracks the proposals laid out in the Governor’s six State of the State addresses. It closes a projected $3.5 billion deficit and proposes spending $1 billion on education and $576 million on Medicaid.
LeadingAge NY is in the process of thoroughly analyzing the budget documents and legislation and beginning to develop our budget advocacy agenda. Hinman Straub, LeadingAge NY’s legislative counsel, has provided an overview of all the proposals impacting aging services providers. Please note that you will need your LeadingAge NY username and password to view the document.
Budget Advocacy Needed!
With the Governor’s proposed budget now out, we need to get our budget advocacy efforts in full swing. Over the coming weeks, we will be developing letters and other advocacy action initiatives on the issues we want to see addressed in the budget. It is incredibly important that you reach out to your lawmakers and ask them to support our budget priorities if we are to be successful. This year’s budget proposes some funding for senior housing but does not include an SSI increase for ACFs, and also proposes a transportation carve-out from the MLTC benefit package. Please help us kick off our advocacy efforts today by engaging your legislators on the issues below. Make sure your lawmakers are well-informed on issues important to you as they begin developing their priorities for the budget.
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Transportation Carve-Out: The Governor’s budget once again proposes carving out transportation from the MLTC benefit package. This benefit would instead be delivered on a fee-for-service basis through the State’s Transportation Manager consistent with Mainstream Managed Care. Many providers have invested in their own vehicles to deliver transportation services, and others have long-standing contracts with high-quality transportation providers. They are able to deliver personally-tailored transportation to the frail elderly and disabled individuals whom they serve. Click here to send a pre-written letter directly to your lawmakers, asking them to ensure that rates are adequate and that plans are able to appropriately coordinate the care of their enrollees.
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SSI Increase for ACFs: We have been working hard to encourage the Governor to include an increase for SSI in his budget. Sadly, it was not included. S.2137 (Serino) would implement such an increase in the SSI rate for ACFs by $7.50 per day, phased in over two years. If passed, the first $2.50 per day increase would happen on Jan. 1, 2018, and then again on April 1, 2018. The third and final $2.50 increase would occur on April 1, 2019. Click here to access LeadingAge NY's memo of support and here to send a letter to your lawmakers asking them to include these provisions in the budget.
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Capital Funds for Assisted Living Programs: A.1612 (Magnarelli) and A.1650 (Magnarelli) would enable ALPs to access funding to assist with increasing workforce and operational costs, tighter budgets, and much-needed capital improvements. In spite of our advocacy efforts, this funding is not included in the Governor’s budget proposal. Click here for LeadingAge NY’s memo of support and here to send a letter to your legislators asking that this important funding be included in the budget.
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Capital and Services Funding for Senior Housing: The Governor’s proposed budget includes $125 million of capital funds for senior housing over five years. We will be urging legislators to support this request, and to add $10 million to the budget for the Senior Service Coordinator Program, which would put up to 125 new service coordinators in new and existing senior housing around the state. Click here to support the capital and Service Coordinator initiative.
Conference Call to Prepare for Advocacy Day Set for Fri., Feb. 3rd
We want you to make sure that your voice is heard in Albany during budget negotiations! To ensure that long term care is properly represented during the budget process, please join us for the LeadingAge NY/Adult Day Health Care Council/Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State Annual Advocacy Day on Tues., Feb. 7th. We will be in Meeting Rooms 3 and 4 on the Empire State Plaza. Click here to access the Advocacy Day website, where you can register and review logistics.
LeadingAge NY will be hosting a conference call for all Advocacy Day attendees on Fri., Feb. 3rd from 10:30-11:30 a.m. to go over logistics and answer any questions. The call-in information is below (and was also included in an email sent to registrants this week):
Call-in: 1-888-585-9008
Code (“Conf. Room”): 821-898-111
Advocacy Day materials, including issue briefs and talking points, will be distributed to registrants before the call. These will be valuable resources to use to educate your representatives about the challenges you face and build support for our policy agenda.
Have You Contacted Your Lawmakers to Request Advocacy Day Meetings?
If you have not done so already, now is the time to set up legislative meetings for Advocacy Day! If your lawmakers are not available that day, you can request to meet with their top staff. You can also meet directly with representatives “off the floor,” meaning that you will meet briefly with them right outside of the Senate or Assembly Chamber. Additionally, if you can’t join us in Albany, you can request to meet with them in their district office.
Please feel free to contact Jeff Diamond if you have any questions or need assistance with connecting with your legislators.
Joint Budget Hearing Schedule
The schedule for the Joint Legislative Budget Hearings has been released. These hearings offer an opportunity for the Legislature to hear from state agency heads and the public about the impact of the Governor’s budget proposal. Unlike in previous years, the hearings will occur over the span of one month. LeadingAge NY will be providing testimony for the Housing hearing on Thurs., Feb. 9th and the Health/Medicaid hearing on Thurs., Feb. 16th.
Federal Advocacy Initiatives
Lastly, today marks the inauguration of President Donald Trump. With the election of Trump and Republican control of Congress, indications are that we may see deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and may see the feds supporting block grants for Medicaid. Block grants represent deep cuts for New York, in particular. In an effort to amplify our voice in Congress, LeadingAge is looking to identify seniors who are willing to write letters to lawmakers. The letters will come from Medicaid recipients, expressing what would happen to them if Medicaid were to be cut. The letter could be read on the House or Senate floor. Therefore, these persons must agree to be identified publicly. If you know any individuals in your organization who would be willing to take on this leadership role, please contact Ami Schnauber as soon as possible.
Contacts:
Ami Schnauber, aschnauber@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8854
Jeff Diamond, jdiamond@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8821