Legislative Bulletin: State and Federal Budget Action This Week

Budget update: One-house budget bills could be printed this weekend
The Senate and Assembly spent the week discussing their budget priorities in preparation for passage of the one-house budget bills on Wednesday, March 12. LeadingAge New York staff have been meeting with the Legislature over the course of the week to discuss the association’s top 10 budget priorities, including home care worker wage parity costs, UAS-NY implementation costs, the proposed cap on nursing home case mix and the nursing home standard wage mandate. Legislative staff will be working through the weekend to put the final touches on the Senate and Assembly budget priorities. Today and Monday will be critical days for you to influence the budget outcome. Please see below for materials and details on hosting your own Virtual Lobby Day in your facility to ensure legislators are hearing from their constituents. Help get the message out to your legislators about our key budget priorities.

Will Safe Patient Handling legislation be included in the Budget?
We are hearing that it is a real possibility. We’ve been told that CWA, along with other unions, is pushing hard for Safe Patient Handling legislation to be included in the Assembly and Senate one-house budget bills. While our members support the safe handling of patients, the current bills under consideration are problematic because they don’t recognize the individualized care needs of your frail elderly and disabled residents. Please make sure that your legislator understands your concerns and ask that this issue be debated outside of the budget process. LeadingAge New York has developed an opposition memo expressing our concerns with the legislation, which may help you with your advocacy message.

Host Your Very Own Virtual Lobby Day
LeadingAge New York is asking all members to undertake a local grassroots effort to encourage staff, consumers or residents, families and board members to contact their legislators about budget issues critical to your organization’s survival and the provision of quality aging services. There are several key budget issues impacting all provider types, including home care, assisted living, managed long term care, nursing homes and housing. Utilize our advocacy materials, including our Issue Brief and Talking Points to help develop your organization’s “ask.” Be sure you and your supporters are telling your legislators the impact that the Governor’s budget proposals will have on your organization, the individuals you serve and the people you employ. For your convenience, we have developed a number of materials to assist you in planning a Virtual Lobby Day at your organization. And once again, LeadingAge New York will hold a drawing for two $100 awards for participants in our Virtual Lobby Day. All the materials to make your Virtual Lobby Day a success are available on our Legislative Action Center, including:

To access your legislator's contact information, click here, enter your zip code and select "elected officials." Legislators' contact information is also available on the Senate and Assembly websites. Once you've contacted your legislators, please fill out the response form, and return it to Alyssa Lovelace via email at alovelace@leadingageny.org or fax to 518-867-8384. Don't forget to indicate on your response form if you want to be included in the drawing to win $100...the two winners will be announced in April!

Morelle to Host Budget Informational Meeting Tomorrow
Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle will host a presentation on the Governor’s 2014-15 Executive Budget this Sat., March 8th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Irondequoit Town Hall, 1280 Titus Ave., Irondequoit, New York. To RSVP please call (585)-467-0410. If you are in the Rochester area, we encourage you to attend and be prepared to share your budget concerns.

President Releases $3.9 Trillion Budget
President Obama released his $3.901 trillion budget on Tues., March 5th, which includes reductions in funding for some programs as well as increases in funding for programs that the administration wants to expand within the Older Americans Act, Medicare. We are particularly concerned with the proposal to accelerate the schedule for reducing skilled nursing facility Medicare market basket updates. This would start with a 2.5% reduction in 2015, then taper to a 0.97% update by 2022. Check out LeadingAge’s summary to learn more about what the president's proposal includes.

LeadingAge is hosting Hill Visits on Tuesday, March 18 as part of their PEAK conference to discuss our budget priorities and concerns with congressional staff. If you are not attending PEAK, please consider making an appointment with your congressional representatives who will be in their districts March 17-21. You can find their contact information here. Read the President’s 2015 budget proposal here. You can also send a letter to Congress here.

MRT Releases Supportive Housing Allocation Plan
On Wednesday, the Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) released its Support Housing Allocation Plan, which includes initiatives set forth by the MRT Affordable Housing Work Group. LeadingAge New York’s Senior Policy Analyst, Diane Darbyshire, is part of the work group and successfully advocated for senior housing initiatives. The Governor's proposed budget includes $260 million over two years to fund MRT Supportive Housing initiatives. LeadingAge New York is very pleased that many of the initiatives for which we advocated are included in the final allocation plan. Of particular interest to our members, the Allocation Plan includes a) $4 million for a Senior Supportive Housing Pilot Project over the next two years for which we expect an RFP to be released very soon; and b) $6 million over the next two years to provide rental subsidies to eligible participants enrolled in MLTC or FIDA, or individuals transitioning out of nursing homes or could be diverted from nursing homes.

Home Care Advocacy Day Sheds Light on Wage Parity, UAS-NY, Contracting with MLTCPs
On Tuesday, LeadingAge New York and several members met with the Assembly and Senate Health Committee chairs and legislative health teams, as well as the governor’s office to express concern with the transition of long term care Medicaid recipients into mandatory managed long term care. We focused on the current challenges with meeting the cost increases of the Wage Parity law, the need to fund the UAS-NY assessment and the disruption caused by the department of health’s (DOH) recent Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) related to MLTC contracts with home health agencies. Legislators and the executive were very receptive to our concerns and have already weighed in with DOH. We encourage you to continue to share your concerns with your legislators.

Registration Available for ACF/AL Advocacy Day
LeadingAge NY's annual Adult Care Facility and Assisted Living Advocacy Day will be held on Mon., April 28th in Albany. Registration is now available online - register today! Details and materials will be posted on the ACF/AL Advocacy Day website as Advocacy Day approaches.

Ready to Golf?
The annual LeadingAge New York PAC Golf Tournament is back at Saratoga Spa Golf Course on Mon., June 16. Shotgun start will be at 12:45 sharp! In addition to the PAC’s traditional 18-hole tournament, we will once again host a pro-clinic and 9-hole tournament for those who have not golfed with us in the past or want to try out the sport. Register now!