Legislative Bulletin: Governor Releases 30-Day Amendments

February 21, 2020

With the legislature beginning to establish their priorities for one-house budgets we’re entering a pivotal time for advocacy. We need your help to send a message to the legislature that will be heard loud and clear!

Governor Releases 30-Day Amendments

This morning, the Governor released his 30 Day Amendments, making adjustments to the FY 2020-21 Executive Budget. LeadingAge NY is reviewing these amendments for any changes that may affect long-term care and aging services providers. Relevant amendments that have been identified thus far include:

Various technical corrections and fiscally neutral changes to the Medical Assistance Program
EQUAL Program Changes - The amendments clarify uses of grant funding for the Enhancing the Quality of Adult Living (EQUAL) Program.
The establishment of the “Community Development Financial Institutions Fund”, which would authorize the New York State Urban Development Corporation to provide financial and technical assistance to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) (subject to available funding) that make loans and provide development services to specific investment areas or targeted populations.

The 30 Day Amendments are an important step in the New York State Budget process, however, some of the most important stages are still ahead. Although an official 2020 Joint Budget Schedule has not yet been released, based on the typical budget timeline, the legislature is expected to release their Senate and Assembly Economic/Revenue Forecast before the end of the month. Following that forecast report, the legislature and the Department of Budget will need to reach a Consensus on Revenue by the first week of March. Then, by mid-March, we will likely see the Senate and Assembly One House Budgets.

Right now, we are in the thick of Budget season and we need your help to send a message to the legislature that will be heard loud and clear! Please read on to learn what you can do to move our budget priorities forward.

It's Time to Send Budget Letters to Lawmakers!

This is a crucial moment in budget advocacy, and we need LeadingAge NY members and our allies to send letters to their state lawmakers on our key budget priorities! We need to create a ground swell of support for the following budget requests. Please use each of the links below to send your legislators letters now!

Once you have sent your letters, please share these links with your colleagues and board members and ask that they do the same. If enough letters are sent, we may see our proposals included in one-house budgets!

March 3^rd Advocacy Day is Quickly Approaching!

Our second LeadingAge New York Advocacy Day is only a week and a half away, and we need your help to send a strong message to the state legislature. Tuesday, March 3rd will be a day of grassroots advocacy focusing on housing, ACF/AL, aging services programs, NORC issues and strategies to provide Medicaid savings. Advocacy days are vital in demonstrating the negative impact of proposed budget cuts and we need your help to educate lawmakers during the final stretch of State budget negotiations.

Register today for our March 3^rd Advocacy Day and contact your legislators’ offices to begin setting up meetings. You can click here to find your legislators. If you have never scheduled a meeting with your lawmakers before, we created a simple scheduling guide to help you get on their calendar. LeadingAge New York staff are happy to help arrange your meetings, coordinate with other members in your area, and even strategize which additional lawmakers you may want to connect with in your region. For questions or assistance in setting up legislative meetings, contact Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org.

In addition, LeadingAge NY will be hosting an Advocacy Day Prep Call on Friday, Feb. 28^th at 11 AM to review materials and logistics as attendees prepare for a great day of grassroots advocacy. Please visit our 2020 Advocacy Day page for full details of the day, including directions, parking, agenda and prep call information.

MRT II Public Comment Forums Continue

The Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT II) continued its work this week, hosting two regional public comment forums. On Tuesday, the Team was in Rochester and received three hours of public comment. Stakeholders offering comment included nursing homes, hospitals, CDPAS workers, consumers and more. One consumer spoke about her mother’s experience in a nursing home, explaining that the facility her mother is in is facing a $2 million cut in funding. She expressed her concerns around the consistent cuts to nursing homes and that we can’t expect to preserve good quality care to seniors when facilities are facing these cuts. A video recording of the hearing is available here and on the MRT II Website.

Today, the MRT was back in Albany hearing from stakeholders in the capital region. Like the former two forums, the MRT heard from a wide array of stakeholders but there was an emphasis on CDPAS. The Albany forum concluded in under two hours.

The MRT also announced today that the deadline to submit MRT II Public Proposals has been extended to Monday, Feb. 24^th at 5 p.m. LeadingAge NY has already begun submitting a slew of recommendations that would support long term care providers and at the same time provide Medicaid savings and efficiencies. LeadingAge NY members are encouraged to submit any proposals of their own by using the Medicaid Redesign Public Proposal Intake Form.

The MRT II homepage is being updated regularly. LeadingAge NY is watching for further announcements from the MRT II and will share updates as they become available.

Cuomo: Marijuana Legalization 'Top Priority' In Budget

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Governor Cuomo vowed to make marijuana legalization "a top priority" for him in the FY 2020-21 state budget. This is the second year that the Governor’s proposal to legalize retail and adult-use marijuana has been included in the Executive Budget Proposal. The Governor intends to “give it [his] all to get it done in the budget” and is planning to visit other states that have legalized marijuana to learn more about the issue and find out how New York could improve potential implementation.

Join February Capitol Hill Insights Call to Hear Late Breaking Updates from Congress

February has been a busy month on the national legislative and political front. With the conclusion of the impeachment trial and the President’s State of The Union Address, Congress can now get back to work on the issues that are impacting seniors and the people that care for them. Join the next Capitol Hill Insights Call and hear from LeadingAge experts on what lays ahead and how the politics of the day are shaping our policy agenda.

The call will be held on Thursday, February 27th at 2 p.m. and will cover important topics such as:

How will the President’s budget impact funding for affordable senior housing and other programs?
Update on a newly introduced bill for Hospice
Key updates on nursing home regulation and reform
Workforce issues that are a priority for Congress

This meeting will be interactive! Participants are encouraged to ask questions via your computer or through the call line. Let LeadingAge know you will be joining the call by registering here.

Contact: Ami Schnauber; 518.867.8854; aschnauber@leadingageny.org

Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org