Legislative Bulletin: The 2026 Legislative Session Begins

January 9, 2026

New York State Legislature Returns to Albany for 2026 Session

The New York State Legislature returned to Albany on Wednesday, Jan. 7^th for the first day of the 2026 Legislative Session. The first day of session marks the beginning of the state legislative work that will take place from now until June 4^th. While the first day was short and sweet, the Legislature is expected to begin its work in earnest next week with several Senate and Assembly committee meetings expected to be scheduled.

Keep in mind, while LeadingAge NY successfully opposed several pieces of problematic legislation in 2025, many of these bills will be back this year and could threaten to move through the legislative process, such as:

There are also several bills that LeadingAge NY strongly supports and will continue to fight for, such as, the Role of the Nurse in ACFs and the authorization of Certified Medication Aides.

As always, LeadingAge NY will be tracking all legislative news and activities very closely and will urge our membership to engage with us in advocacy whenever necessary. Keep an eye out for these Legislative Bulletins, which will come to you every Friday for the duration of this year’s session.

REGISTER NOW for 2026 Advocacy Day in Albany!

With the New York State Legislature back in session, and the anticipated release of the 2026-27 Executive Budget Proposal on Jan. 20^th, it is critical that we have as many members as possible join us in Albany for our 2026 Advocacy Day on Feb. 3^rd! During our advocacy day in Albany, we will be urging State legislators to support and appropriately fund the entire continuum of long-term care/aging services providers; including nursing homes, assisted living/adult care facilities, home care agencies, senior housing, adult day health care, managed long-term care and more!

Please join us for our LeadingAge NY Advocacy Day to lend your voice to these issues!

When: Feb. 3, 2026

Where: The Empire State Plaza Convention Center (279 Madison Ave., Albany, NY 12242)

How: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER for LeadingAge NY's 2026 Advocacy Day.

Please note that we recommend members schedule their own legislative meetings, when possible. Scheduling meetings with legislators helps build your relationships with offices, makes a clear district connection, and is more likely to result in the legislator themselves joining the meeting despite their busy schedules. However, if you do not have the time to schedule meetings or would prefer assistance in setting up meetings, please complete your registration as soon as possible!

During our Advocacy Day, LeadingAge NY will:

Provide breakfast & lunch;
join you in your legislative meetings;
provide legislative materials and “handouts” for legislators – available Jan. 30^th;
assist in any necessary follow-up from meetings;
provide a meeting room, directions, parking information, logistical support and more!

Finally, to ensure that members are familiar with what is in the SFY 2026-27 Executive Budget Proposal (once released) and all details of our 2026 Advocacy Day, LeadingAge NY will be hosting a Budget and Advocacy Day Prep Call on Fri., Jan. 30^th at 11 a.m.

More information on our Advocacy Day plans can be found here. Please reach out to Sarah Daly (sdaly@leadingageny.org) with any questions.

ACTION ALERT: Urge Governor to Prioritize Older Adults in Executive Budget

LeadingAge NY is calling on Governor Hochul to prioritize the care and quality of life of older adults and individuals living with complex medical conditions by adequately funding high-quality long-term care.

In the SFY 2026-27 budget, LeadingAge New York is urging the State to:

Renew the SFY 2025-26 investments of $445 million (all funds) in nursing home Medicaid rates and $15 million (all funds) in Assisted Living Program Medicaid funding, and further increase those investments to support staffing costs, mitigate the case mix freeze, and ensure access to quality care,
Resume rate adjustments for nursing home resident acuity without further delay,
Restore the nursing home capital reimbursement cuts enacted since 2020 ($43.4 million state share) to enable homes to make existing debt service payments and make improvements that support quality of life and safety,
Support a Medicaid increase for Adult Day Health Care programs at 65% of the nursing home rate,
Support investment in CHHAs, Hospices, and LHCSAs to address the workforce crisis and preserve access,and
Establish and fund the Resident Assistance in Affordable Senior Housing Program.

Advocacy at this time of the year is vital to the success of our budget initiatives – and LeadingAge New York has been leveraging grassroots advocacy tools to attract the attention of Governor Hochul as she crafts the Executive Budget Proposal.

Take action by using these “click-to-send” digital advocacy letters today!

Nursing Homes: Send this digital advocacy letter, written from a provider leadership perspective (CEO, COO, CFO, Administrator). Members are strongly encouraged to customize this letter with any details you would like. You can do so by simply editing the content available in the text box.
- LeadingAge NY has created a suite of digital letters for nursing home stakeholders. These letters should be shared with board members, staff, volunteers, and families.
Affordable Senior Housing: Send this digital letter to the Governor, asking her to create and fund a Resident Assistant program for affordable senior housing. Share the link with your colleagues!

Thank you for joining us in advocacy at this critical time! If you have questions or challenges in implementing these resources, please do not hesitate to reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org.

LeadingAge New York and Long-Term Care in the News

This morning, the Capitol Pressroom’s David Lombardo aired a 30-minute segment titled, “Long-term care facilities struggle to stay open in New York.” In the broadcast, Lombardo speaks to LeadingAge New York CEO, Sebrina Barrett, and the President and CEO of Community Wellness Partners, Jeremy Rutter, to explore the concerns of the long-term care sector, including the sector’s exclusion from a round of state infrastructure funding, the inadequacy of state Medicaid rates, and the struggle to find staff.

Earlier in the week, the CEO of Jewish Home, Mike King, was featured in a television news segment with WROC news focused on access to care for older adults and individuals seeking post-acute care.

LeadingAge New York continues to seek media opportunities to elevate the voices of older adults, consumers of long-term care, and the providers who serve them.

Need to Know: The New York State Budget Process

As we celebrate the welcoming of a new year, fresh starts, and the beginning of a new legislative session, it is important that we also note that next week we will find ourselves at the very beginning of the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026-27 Budget cycle. Since we may have some new readers of our LeadingAge New York Legislative Bulletin, we wanted to share some reminders about the state budget process and some important timeframes to be aware of.

The State budget cycle will officially kick off next week, with the Governor’s State of the State address set for Jan. 13^th at 1 p.m. While this address will give us a sense of what may be in the SFY 2026-27 Executive Budget Proposal, much will remain uncertain until we see the proposed Executive Budget legislation, which is due to be released no later than Jan. 20^th.

From the time that we see budget bills, through February and early March, stakeholders and members of the Legislature will review the Executive’s proposal and begin to submit their own budget priorities to legislative leadership. In mid-March, both the Senate and Assembly will put forth their one-house budget proposals, amending the Executive’s proposal to reflect the priorities of each house of the Legislature.

Following the completion of the one-house budget process, “three-way negotiations” will begin between the Executive, the Senate, and the Assembly. These negotiations typically take place in the final weeks of March, with the goal of coming to a final budget agreement by April 1, 2026.

LeadingAge NY will be here to guide members on the state budget process and related advocacy efforts every step of the way. However, your involvement in this process is critical to the success of our advocacy, our budget objectives and our shared mission. We thank you in advance for staying engaged with us in all 2026 advocacy activities. We look forward to what we can accomplish together!

Governor Unveils Top Proposals in Advance of State of the State Address on Jan. 13^th

The Governor’s annual State of the State address is scheduled to take place on Jan. 13^th at 1 p.m. The State of the State will be streamed on the Governor’s website, and will likely be broadcast by some regional and Albany-based news outlets.

While advocates and stakeholders of every industry await the unveiling of the final Executive Budget Proposal, the Governor this week began unveiling some of her top State of the State proposals:

LeadingAge New York will tune-in to the State of the State address next week, and will report to members with any major announcements relevant to the long-term care and aging services sector.

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