2026 Advocacy Day

(Feb. 9, 2026) Thank you to all members and advocates who joined us for our 2026 Advocacy Day in Albany on Feb. 3rd! In just one day, we met with approximately 43% of the entire Legislature. With 100 member advocates attending more than 100 meetings. Your participation and commitment to advocacy helped us surpass the registration and meeting goals we established earlier this year! Thank you for lending your time, energy and voices to our efforts!

Last Tuesday was a powerful kickstart to our budget advocacy. Throughout the day, we met with key legislative leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Stewart‑Cousins, Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means leadership, the Chairs of Health, Aging, Housing, and Social Services, Health Rankers Jensen and Gallivan, and many other offices essential to shaping the State budget. It was a full, productive day that set a strong foundation for the work ahead.

Your stories and firsthand experiences made a real impact. Showing up early in the budget process ensures our priorities are heard and understood before major decisions are made.

However, this is only the beginning. With one‑house budget proposals expected in early March, the next few weeks are essential. Now is the time to keep up the pressure on state legislators, urging them to strengthen investments and provide key restorations to existing and proposed cuts to long-term care.

LeadingAge New York will continue to advocate for and alongside our members throughout the duration of the state budget cycle, and we strongly encourage members to stay in frequent contact with your state legislators. Members can watch the below recording of our Budget and Advocacy Day Prep Call to hear from our policy team about the Executive Budget Proposals and budget requests most relevant to our members. In addition, the ​​​​​​​budget issue briefs below will remain relevant to share with legislators and use as talking points in phone call or meeting conversations. Budget issue briefs can easily be downloaded and shared with legislative offices via email as follow up to any conversations you may have.

We hope that you will continue to join us in our 2026 budget advocacy activities! Advocacy Days are an incredibly impactful way to bring many voices together at a specific time to enhance the relevance and weight of our message to lawmakers, and we are thrilled to say that we surpassed our advocacy goals for Feb. 3rd! However, this work must continue over the coming weeks. Stay up-to-date with all timely advocacy action items via our weekly Legislative Bulletin and other email action alerts. We thank members for your participation in this process. 

Contact: Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org