Legislative Bulletin: State Budget Extends Past Memorial Day Weekend

May 22, 2026

ACTION NEEDED: State Budget Work Extends Past Memorial Day Weekend

For the first time in more than a decade, the New York State Budget process will extend past the Memorial Day Weekend.

On Wednesday, Governor Hochul and the NYS Legislature approved the 14^th Emergency Appropriation and budget extension of the year, moving the state budget deadline to Tues., May 26^th. On the same day, the Legislature passed the Education, Labor, Housing and Family Assistance (ELFA) budget bill, and then on Thursday, the Public Protection and General Government (PPGG) budget bill was passed. The third bill that has already been approved by the Legislature and the Governor is the Debt Service bill, which is one of the simpler of budget bills and was approved in late March in advance of the statutory budget due date.

As of this writing, we are still awaiting the finalization of six remaining budget bills, including the Health and Mental Health (HMH) budget bill which is of most relevance to our membership. Unfortunately, we are hearing that some of the specific dollar amounts allocated to long-term care (nursing homes, assisted living, ADHC, etc.) are still fluid.

Although it is the Friday before a long holiday weekend, we hope you might consider emailing or calling your state legislators today or over the weekend, one last time before budget bills begin to be printed on Monday and Tuesday!

Click here for service-line talking points and legislator contact information! Please contact your legislators as soon as possible and encourage them to pressure legislative leadership to prioritize funding for long-term care!

Unfortunately, the longer state budget discussions drag on, the more likely it becomes that our priorities could be lost in the shuffle, or that dollar investments could decrease. Nothing will be certain until bills are in print – please contact your legislators one last time today or tomorrow, if you are able!

ACTION ALERT: Urge Legislators to Support Key Bills and Budget Priorities

With only two weeks remaining of this year’s scheduled legislative session, and with several budget bills still awaiting agreement and printing, this is a prime-time for LeadingAge NY members to advocate on our priorities that have both a budget and legislative avenue for potential enactment.

The following LeadingAge NY priorities are proposed by both legislation and a state budget request that is in play. Please take a moment to help advocate on the following proposals:

In addition, members can find all of LeadingAge NY’s digital budget advocacy letters here. Please continue to help us keep up the pressure until we see final budget bills in print!

Share our Budget Message on Social Media Over the Weekend!

With details still open on the state’s health care spending plan for SFY 2027, we need members to help us advocate and maintain pressure on state legislators. Constituent voices matter most, so please be sure to share social media posts on personal or professional platforms over the weekend and consider calling your legislators today to help ensure our priorities are included in the final state budget for SFY 2027. In addition, please consider engaging your organization’s board members, volunteers, and resident family members in advocacy!

LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to like and share recent news articles posted by LeadingAge NY. Links to LeadingAge NY social media posts are available below. When you share these posts to personal and professional platforms, please consider tagging the governor, legislative leaders, and your state legislators. Proposed captions and legislators “tags” (@) are available below.

NY lawmakers have to solve our long-term care crisis | Opinion (nursing home funding)
Aging-in-place advocates call for funding $2M resident assistance pilot in older adult housing:

When posting on social media, we encourage members to tag the Governor and legislative leaders. Facebook handles are available here: @Governor Kathy Hochul, @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @NYSAssemblyMajority Speaker @Carl E. Heastie, @Hon. Gustavo Rivera, @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, @State Senator Liz Krueger

Don’t forget to use our hashtags: #ProtectOlderAdults #FundLongTermCare!

Draft Captions:

Service Line

Captions

Please note that these legislator tags (@) are for Facebook. You may need to search for the appropriate tags for other platforms.

Nursing Homes

It is time to stop the nursing home closure crisis and fully fund nursing home care in NYS. Eleven homes have announced closure since 2024, and three of these closures have been announced since Oct., 2025 alone.

Nursing homes are closing, and older adults are paying the price. While modest investments made since 2023 have been helpful, they have not been enough to reverse current trends or correct over 15 years of stagnant Medicaid funding. Now, the closure crisis is snowballing into a catastrophe.

We urge the State to prioritize quality care for older adults by restoring the full 15% in capital cuts and allocating $750 million in NEW Medicaid funding for nursing homes. Helping nursing homes helps hospitals – and aging New Yorkers deserve a long-term care sector and workforce they can depend on.

@Governor Kathy Hochul, @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @NYSAssemblyMajority, Speaker @Carl E. Heastie, @Hon. Gustavo Rivera, @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin & @State Senator Liz Krueger

#ProtectOlderAdults #FundLongTermCare

ACF/AL

Every New Yorker deserves access to quality care that meets their needs, including older adults! However, years of underfunding and rising costs have made it difficult for desirable models such as the assisted living program (ALP) and adult care facilities (ACFs) to remain open. It’s time for Medicaid rates to reflect the current costs of operating the ALP, and updates to funding for ACFs are also long over-due.

Thank you @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @NYSAssemblyMajority, Speaker @Carl E. Heastie, @Hon. Gustavo Rivera, @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin & @State Senator Liz Krueger, for proposing new investments in the ALP and restoring cuts to EQUAL and the Enriched Housing Subsidy (EHS).

@Governor Kathy Hochul, please provide new Medicaid funding for the ALP in the final NYS budget and ensure that no cuts are made to NY ACF residents. Proposed cuts to EQUAL and EHS reduce the quality of life and services available for older adults.

#ProtectOlderAdults #FundLongTermCare

HCBS

Underfunding long-term care (LTC) is a problem for all New Yorkers! As home care providers struggle to find staff, families struggle to find services for their loved ones in their communities. The lack of home care options contributes to challenges throughout the entire healthcare system, including delayed hospital discharges, and unnecessary hospital visits.

Thank you @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @NYSAssemblyMajority, Speaker @Carl E. Heastie, @Hon. Gustavo Rivera, @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin & @State Senator Liz Krueger, for proposing new investments in Certified Home Health Agencies (CHHAs) and other critical aging services in your one-house budgets.

@Governor Kathy Hochul, please support the Senate’s proposed $50 million investment in CHHAs and the Assembly’s COLA increases for human services providers and staff.

#ProtectOlderAdults #FundLongTermCare

ADHC

Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) programs were forced to shut down during the pandemic. Six years later, over half of the 120 programs are still closed and those that have reopened are struggling to stay viable due to lack of resources and staff.

@Governor Kathy Hochul, @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @NYSAssemblyMajority, Speaker @Carl E. Heastie, @Hon. Gustavo Rivera, @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin & @State Senator Liz Krueger, please continue to support this essential community program for older adults, which allows people to remain living at home with loved ones while receiving care and socialization during the day.

Please increase funding to help ADHCs rebuild, reopen, and serve older adults in their communities.

#ProtectOlderAdults #FundLongTermCare

Housing

Thank You, @Senator Brian Kavanagh, @Senator Cordell Cleare and @Andrea Stewart-Cousins for proposing to fund and establish the NY Resident Assistance Program for older adults living in affordable senior housing! This modest $2M/year investment would pay for itself, generating $4M in annual NET Medicaid savings. More importantly, it would help older adults continue to age healthily and independently in their homes with light-touch community support, helping them navigate the aging process while reducing strains on higher levels of care.

@Governor Kathy Hochul, @NYSAssemblyMajority, Speaker @Carl E. Heastie, @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin & @Linda B. Rosenthal – please fight for this common-sense proposal to be included in the Final Budget for SFY 2027!

#SupportOlderAdults #NYResidentAssistance

SFY 2026-27 State Budget Advocacy Resources from LeadingAge NY

Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org