Bill Round-Up – End of 2024 Legislative Session
(June 11, 2024) The NYS Legislature completed its work for the 2024 Legislative Session on the morning of Sat., June 8th. The Senate concluded its work late Fri., June 7th, and the Assembly carried its work into Saturday morning.
While the close of session displayed the typical rapid debate and passage of bills, this year, the final few days were uniquely dominated by Governor Hochul’s decision to delay the implementation of the NYC congestion pricing law. This decision was not only controversial from a policy perspective, but it also created a $1 billion annual deficit in the budget of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), severely inhibiting the MTA's capital plan and ability to obtain bonds and other forms of debt for future projects. The Governor and legislative leaders were unable to reach an agreement on replacement revenue, and, as a result, the Legislature may return to Albany for a "special session" later this year to address the MTA's budget shortfall.
Despite the hiccups with congestion pricing and the MTA budget, the Legislature did agree upon a number of high-profile legislative packages, including data privacy and algorithmic feeds for children under 18, the Climate Change Superfund Act, gun safety, and the Grieving Families Act/"wrongful death" legislation for the third year in a row.
During the final days of session, LeadingAge NY advocated fiercely for several proactive policies such as the passage of Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) revitalization legislation, nursing home and assisted living rebasing legislation, a bill to streamline the medical evaluation process in assisted living programs, and others. LeadingAge NY advocates also had to defend against new costly and burdensome requirements that would have detracted from resident care and long-term care (LTC) workforce initiatives.
In the end, a total of 805 bills were passed by both houses of the Legislature and will await action by the Governor over the next several months. Approximately 29 of these are deemed to be of meaningful relevance to the LeadingAge NY membership. Next week, LeadingAge NY will publish a comprehensive 2024 Legislative Bill Summary, reviewing all priority legislation that passed both houses as well as those that did not ultimately advance.
In the meantime, members may find a brief overview of end-of-session priority bill status, below:
The following priority bills were passed both houses:
- Changes to Public Health Law (PHL) Section 2805-X – Memo of Support
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)-Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) Carve-Out of Managed Care – Memo of Support
- Medicaid Reimbursement for Treatment in Place – Support
- New Nursing Home Survey Posting Requirements – Memo of Opposition
- Nursing Home Closure Requirements – Memo of Opposition
- Nursing Home Temporary Operator – Memo of Opposition
- Publication of Health Electronic Response Data System (HERDS) Data – Memo of Concern
- Quality Improvement in Assisted Living Residences – Concerns
- Wrongful Death – Memo of Opposition
- Enhancement of NYS Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) Oversight of Social Adult Day Care Programs – Tracking
- Payments for Care of Medically Fragile Young Adults – Memo of Support
The following bills were passed by one house and WILL NOT advance to the Governor:
- CCRC Revitalization – Memo of Support
- Passed Senate; Assembly Rules Committee
- Assisted Living Program (ALP) Medical Evaluations – Memo of Support
- Passed Assembly; Senate Health Committee
- Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) Audit and Review – Memo of Support
- Passed Senate; Assembly Ways and Means Committee
- Prohibition on Establishment of For-Profit Hospice – Memo of Support
- Passed Senate; Assembly Calendar, Laid Aside
- Increase in Adult Care Facility (ACF) State Supplement Program (SSP) – Memo of Support
- Passed Senate; Assembly Social Services Committee
- Changes to Character and Competence – Memo of Opposition
- Passed Senate; Assembly Calendar, Laid Aside
The following bills did not pass either house:
- Restrictions on Psychotropic Medications in Nursing Homes and ACFs – Memo of Concern
- Designated Storage for Decedent Remains – Memo of Opposition
- Increase in Nursing Home and LTC Provider Penalties – Memo of Opposition
- Increase in Penalties for ACFs – Memo of Opposition
- Training for Patient Transporters – Memo of Opposition
- Nursing Home Rebasing – Memo of Support
- ALP Rebasing – Memo of Support
- Certified Medication Aides – Memo of Support
- Role of the Nurse in ACFs – Memo of Support
- Certified Home Health Agency (CHHA) Payments – Memo of Support
Please stay tuned for more details to come, and feel free to reach out to Sarah Daly with any questions regarding LeadingAge NY priority legislation.
Contact: Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8845