Legislative Bulletin: Priority Bills Moving as End of Session Nears

Priority Bills Moving as End of Session Nears

This week, with the end of the 2017 Legislative Session drawing closer, several of LeadingAge NY’s priority bills advanced in both the Assembly and Senate. There are now only seven session days left, which means that we have a short window of time to try and get these bills passed. Your lawmakers need to hear from you during this period, and the sooner the better. As you engage – whether through phone calls, letters, or social media posts – be sure to emphasize how these issues will impact your organization and those you serve.

Affordable Senior Housing and Services Program: LeadingAge NY is pleased to report that A.6804 (Cymbrowitz)/S.5141 (Little), legislation which would establish an Affordable Senior Housing and Services Program with its own rules and scoring criteria and provide for optional basic healthy aging services for senior housing residents, advanced from the Assembly Housing to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. This is good news, but with some assisted living representatives opposing the bill, we still face hurdles in getting it passed. We need you to reach out to your lawmakers and push strongly for it! Click here to take action. There are still no Assembly or Senate co-sponsors.
ALP CON Process: A.7727-A (Lupardo)/S.5840 (Hannon), legislation which would convert the Assisted Living Program (ALP) from a competitive solicitation process to a certificate of need (CON) process that awards beds based on demonstrated community need and allow existing ALP providers to add up to nine beds through an expedited process, moved in both houses. On Tuesday, the bill was placed on the Senate Floor Calendar and advanced from the Assembly Health to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. To connect with your representatives, please click here. With the addition of Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee this week, there are now two Assembly co-sponsors: Gottfried and Jaffee. There are still no Senate co-sponsors.
Capital Funding for Assisted Living Programs: A.1612-A (Magnarelli)/S.6319 (Hannon), a bill which would enable ALPs to access Vital Access Provider (VAP) and Health Care Facility Transformation Program funds allocated in this year’s budget, has been placed on the Senate Floor Calendar as well. You can reach out to your legislators and ask them to co-sponsor this bill by clicking here. There are still no Assembly or Senate co-sponsors.
Integration of Individuals with TBI: A.1425 (Jenne)/S.517 (Young), a bill which would allow the integration of individuals with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained after the age of 21 into programs within the developmental disabilities service sector, advanced from the Senate Finance to the Senate Rules Committee. Click here to encourage your legislators’ support. There are still no Assembly co-sponsors and only two Senate co-sponsors: Larkin and Ritchie.

Continue Advocating on Other Key Bills

In addition to the bills that advanced this week, LeadingAge NY urges you to continue your advocacy on the other initiatives listed below.

Role of the Nurse in Adult Care Facilities: A.2736-A (Gottfried)/S.4398-A (Hannon) would allow all adult care facilities (ACFs) and assisted living providers that employ nurses the option to provide nursing services directly. Click here to contact your representatives, urging their support of this critically-needed bill. The number of co-sponsors has remained the same: seven in the Assembly (Dinowitz, D’Urso, Galef, Lifton, Lupardo, McDonald, and Sepulveda) and none in the Senate.
SSI Increase for ACFs: A.6715-A (Brindisi)/S.2137-A (Serino) would increase the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) rate for ACFs by $20 per resident per day over five years. To connect with your legislators and request their co-sponsorship of this bill, please click here. There are 20 Senate co-sponsors (Amedore, Avella, Croci, DeFrancisco, Funke, Gallivan, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, Helming, LaValle, Little, Marcellino, Murphy, Ortt, Ranzenhofer, Ritchie, Robach, Savino, and Valesky) and no Assembly co-sponsors.
CCRC Revitalization Act: A.6450 (Schimminger)/S.5172 (Hannon) would reform Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) laws and regulatory oversight, eliminating many of the current barriers to developing, expanding, and efficiently operating CCRCs in New York State. You can access LeadingAge NY’s recently-released CCRC economic impact report here and encourage your legislators’ support here. There have been no changes to the number of co-sponsors: three in the Assembly (Gottfried, Lupardo, and Morelle) and none in the Senate.
TBI/NHTD Carve-out of Medicaid Managed Care: A.2442 (Gottfried)/S.1870 (Hannon) would make the two-year delay of the transition of the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) waivers into Medicaid managed care a permanent carve-out. Click here to take action in support of this legislation. With the addition of Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner this week, there are now seven Assembly co-sponsors: D'Urso, Lopez, Lupardo, Lupinacci, Raia, Ramos, and Woerner. There are five Senate co-sponsors: Boyle, Brooks, Larkin, Marchione, and Phillips.

NYSNA and Unions Renew Push for Staffing Ratios Legislation

Attention nursing home members! With the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) and unions stepping up their efforts to pass staffing ratios legislation, lawmakers need to hear your side of the story. A.1532 (Gunther)/S.3330 (Hannon), the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act, would create specific staffing ratios for nurses and other direct care staff in hospitals and nursing homes at a cost of approximately $1.06 billion to nursing homes statewide. LeadingAge NY remains strongly opposed to this irresponsible mandate on nursing homes and has developed a cost template to assist you in determining the financial impact on your facility. Please take a few minutes to send a letter, tweet, or Facebook message to your legislators, urging their opposition. As you will see below, this bill has a large number of co-sponsors in both the Assembly and Senate. If your representatives have signed on, it is especially important that you educate and encourage them to remove their names from the bill.

There are 104 Assembly co-sponsors: Abbate, Abinanti, Arroyo, Aubry, Barnwell, Barron, Benedetto, Bichotte, Blake, Brabenec, Brindisi, Bronson, Buchwald, Butler, Byrne, Cahill, Carroll, Colton, Cook, Crespo, Cusick, Cymbrowitz, D'Urso, Davila, De La Rosa, DenDekker, Dilan, Dinowitz, Englebright, Errigo, Fahy, Farrell, Galef, Gjonaj, Glick, Gottfried, Graf, Harris, Hevesi, Hooper, Hunter, Hyndman, Jaffee, Jean-Pierre, Jenne, Johns, Jones, Joyner, Kavanagh, Kearns, Kim, Lavine, Lentol, Lifton, Lupardo, Lupinacci, Magee, Magnarelli, Mayer, McDonough, McKevitt, M.G. Miller, M.L. Miller, Montesano, Mosley, Niou, Nolan, O'Donnell, Ortiz, Otis, Paulin, Peoples-Stokes, Perry, Pheffer Amato, Pichardo, Pretlow, Ra, Ramos, Richardson, Rivera, Rosenthal, Rozic, Ryan, Santabarbara, Seawright, Sepulveda, Simon, Simotas, Skartados, Skoufis, Solages, Steck, Thiele, Titone, Titus, Vanel, Walker, Wallace, Walsh, Weprin, Williams, Woerner, Wright, and Zebrowski.

With the additions of Senators Martin Malavé Dilan, Michael Gianaris, Andrew Lanza, and Velmanette Montgomery this week, there are now 27 Senate co-sponsors: Addabbo, Alcantara, Avella, Bailey, Bonacic, Breslin, Brooks, Carlucci, Comrie, Dilan, Gianaris, Hamilton, Hoylman, Kaminsky, Kennedy, Krueger, Lanza, Latimer, Montgomery, Murphy, Parker, Peralta, Persaud, Sanders, Serino, Serrano, and Stavisky.

Action Alert: Urge Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to Stand Up for Medicaid

Your federal advocacy is needed as well! The Senate is scheduled to vote this month on health care legislation that would convert the Medicaid program to a per capita cap or block grant. Under this proposal, every state would lose federal funding, forcing states to cut back on services for seniors and people with disabilities covered by Medicaid as well as reimbursement to providers. LeadingAge strongly opposes these changes to Medicaid, and we need you to urge Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to do the same. It is critical that Congress protect the program and ensure that older adults have access to the long term services and supports they need.

To take action, please follow the simple steps outlined below:

Dial this toll-free number, 866-460-6413. You will be prompted to enter your zip code to get connected to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand.
Leave a message with the staff person who answers the phone. LeadingAge National has provided a sample phone script for your use:

“My name is ___, and I am a constituent. I am calling to urge the Senator to oppose health care legislation that would fundamentally change Medicaid’s financing structure. I oppose per capita caps and block grants because they would hurt many people and families who need long term services and supports.

70% of people who turn 75 will, at some point, need long term services and supports, and Medicaid is the largest payer.

Please oppose changing Medicaid to per capita caps when our senior population is rapidly growing. It is the wrong policy, at the wrong time.”

After talking with the staff person, do not hang up. Allow the staff person to hang up, and the automated system will then connect you to the other Senator.

With the proposed changes directly impacting your residents, LeadingAge NY encourages you to share this information with them and suggest that they call or send letters as well. Thank you in advance for your efforts.

Join LeadingAge NY Staff at Save HUD 202 Rally on June 27^th

We are now less than three weeks away from LeadingAge National’s Save HUD 202 Rally! The event, co-hosted by Selfhelp Community Services, will be held on Tues., June 27^th from 1-2 pm on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. 202 housing providers, seniors, nonprofit leaders, and other advocates will be rallying around one simple goal: preserve every 202 home we have, and bring affordable housing to every older adult who needs it. LeadingAge NY staff will be attending and coordinating a member meetup prior to the rally, with more details forthcoming.

To learn more about the Save HUD 202 campaign, and to register for the rally, please click here.

Legislature Welcomes Christine Pellegrino and Brian Benjamin

On Monday, two weeks after their victories in the May 23^rd special elections, Democrats Christine Pellegrino and Brian Benjamin were sworn into the Assembly and Senate, respectively.

In a statement, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie welcomed Pellegrino to the chamber, writing that “the Assembly Majority is proud to welcome another woman…who embodies progressive ideals and is passionate about representing her community.” Pellegrino, a longtime elementary school reading teacher, fills the seat formerly held by Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino.

Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, meanwhile, underscored that Benjamin’s election once again gives Democrats a numerical majority, 32 to 31, in the chamber. She called on the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), which aligns with Senate Republicans, to rejoin the mainline Democratic Conference to “make history and begin working toward a truly progressive government.” Benjamin, a real estate developer, fills the seat formerly held by New York City Councilman Bill Perkins.

Governor Cuomo Signs Expedited Ride-Sharing Bill

Lastly, Governor Cuomo on Monday signed legislation to allow ride-sharing services to begin operating outside of New York City on June 29^th, 10 days earlier than originally scheduled. The new date will enable the programs to expand prior to the July 4^th weekend, which Senator Michael Ranzenhofer and Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, the bill sponsors, argued would reduce the likelihood of drunk driving.

Contacts:

Ami Schnauber, aschnauber@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8854

Jeff Diamond, jdiamond@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8821