Legislative Bulletin: The End of Session Countdown Begins...

The End of Session Countdown Begins…
The Legislative Session is scheduled to end on Wed., June 17, leaving only 10 days for lawmakers to introduce and debate high priority legislation, and for advocates to advance and inform legislators of their priority legislation. During these last few days of session, we urge you to connect with your lawmakers on the issues outlined below. For your convenience, we have pre-written letters available online for you to send to your lawmakers, as well as a “Find My Legislators” tool, that will provide you with your lawmakers' contact information. If you have any questions or concerns about LeadingAge NY’s remaining legislative priorities, please don’t hesitate to contact your government relations team.

Attention ACF/AL Members: Contact Your Lawmakers!
The following bills were placed on committee agendas this week, and are on the move once again! Please contact your lawmakers immediately, urging them to pass these important pieces of legislation:

Increase the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) rates for low-income seniors in ACFs: This legislation is part of an ongoing effort to get an increase in the State portion of the SSI rate for ACFs, along with a built in future cost of living adjustment to prevent the rate from getting so far away from the cost of providing care. The bill has been moved to the Senate Finance Committee. Please email your lawmakers now, urging them to co-sponsor and pass A.7393-A (Brindisi)-S.5151 (Little).
Amend EQUAL language to enable the expenditure of funds retrospectively, within the fiscal year: This initiative is part of LeadingAge NY's ongoing advocacy efforts to resolve an issue in the recently enacted budget, which disallowed EQUAL funds to be used for expenses incurred prior to the release of the application and funding. This legislation would resolve the issue so that, consistent with past practice, EQUAL funds can be used for expenses incurred within the fiscal year, even if they are retrospective, as long as they are consistent with the EQUAL program objectives and approved by the organization's resident council. This bill was reported out of the Assembly Health Committee and to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, last week, and reported to first reading in the Senate, where it will soon be placed on the Senate Calendar for debate. Please email your lawmakers now, urging them to co-sponsor and pass A.7502 (Gottfried)-S.5346 (Hannon).

?The Fight Continues Against Nurse Staffing Ratios
In addition to the advocacy opportunities above, we continue to urge members to help us fight nurse staffing ratios. Known as the Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act, this legislation would create specific staffing ratios for nurses and other direct-care staff in hospitals and nursing homes. LeadingAge NY opposes the legislation, which if enacted, would cost an estimated $1.06 billion to implement in nursing homes and would require more than an hour of additional staff time per resident per day when compared to current staffing. Please email to your lawmakers now, urging them to oppose this legislation.

Update: Nursing Home Guardianship Legislation
Following the release of a January New York Times story alleging that some nursing homes are filing guardianship petitions against vulnerable disabled nursing home residents, over the objection of family members, as a means of bill collection, legislation was introduced that would prevent nursing homes from using the guardianship process to solely address unpaid bills. The bill is currently on the Senate calendar, where it has yet to be taken up for debate, and in the Assembly Codes Committee. We are working with the sponsors of the bill, and are looking to amend the bill to prevent some unintended consequences of the current draft. While we are hopeful that the bill will not be passed this session, the bill will remain a top priority for the association and other stakeholders. We will keep members updated with any new developments.

Senate Democrats Release Affordable Housing Plan
Earlier this week, LeadingAge NY staff attended a press conference, held by Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and the Democratic Conference, in which they released an affordable housing package that would “ensure fair housing practices throughout New York State.” As outlined in the press release, the package of legislation would:

Repeal provisions of State and City statutes that remove apartments from rent stabilization when they are vacated and could be rented for monthly rents of $2,500 or more. The bill also re-regulates units deregulated due to vacancy since 1993 to their December 31, 2014 rates.
Repeal provisions permitting rent increases of 20% or more upon vacancy of a rent stabilized dwelling unit.
Standardize the rental adjustment a landlord may impose for the total cost of an individual apartment improvement, reduce the increase allowed to 1/84th of the costs and require DHCR to issue a schedule of reasonable costs for repairs so that landlords can't fraudulently attempt to deregulate an apartment through improvements that may not have been made or for inflated claims of costs incurred.
Provide that major capital improvements (MCI) be calculated as a rent surcharge and will not become part of the base legal regulated rent by which rent increases are calculated; requires the amount be separately designated and billed as such; prevents landlords from receiving a financial windfall from MCI funded by the New York State Energy and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

John Broderick Joins LeadingAge NY Staff
LeadingAge New York is pleased to announce that we have recruited John Broderick to join our team. John hit the ground running by presenting at our annual conference last week, and spending two days at the Capital, attending the press conference mentioned above and connecting with the housing staff of the Senate and Assembly.

John been has working in the affordable housing business for the past 26 years, as both an advocate and a provider, having most recently worked as executive director at Shire Housing in Bennington, VT. He also has served on the Board of Directors for LeadingAge Vermont, acting as the Board president for the past year. John will take over the role of Senior Policy Analyst for Housing, leading both our subsidized housing and market rate housing cabinets, as well as acting as the association’s lead expert on senior housing policy. John’s expertise will provide great value to LeadingAge NY and our members, especially as we look for new ways to finance affordable senior housing, expand the development of senior housing plus support services and assist members in developing collaborations that will allow seniors and the disabled to remain in the community as long as possible. Please join us in welcoming John to LeadingAge New York.

You can reach John at jbroderick@leadingageny.org.

PRAC Survey Deadline Extended
LeadingAge NY is part of the Section 202 PRAC preservation workgroup that was established by LeadingAge to research the current and future physical needs of Section 202 PRAC inventory, develop a comprehensive preservation strategy for these properties, prepare a legislative proposal for members of Congress and engage in an education and advocacy campaign to secure support. To support our work, LeadingAge has developed a survey to collect crucial data from members to help quantify the issues that cannot be funded under the PRAC projects' current reserve plan and funding. In a recent workgroup meeting we learned that based on recent REAC results, HUD does not think there is a significant capital need. Help us tell your capital needs story by filling out this short survey by Tues., June 30. The survey will only take you a few minutes to fill out but will provide us with valuable information for our advocacy on PRAC preservation. You can access the survey here.

Section 202 Demo Rescinded and NHTF Money Eliminated by House Appropriations Committee
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee passed the FY16 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) funding bill on May 13. Make your voice heard by Contacting Congress on the THUD bill.

Single-Payer Health Insurance Passes Assembly
The State Assembly approved legislation on Wednesday that would create a single-payer health system in New York. The bill, known as the New York Health Act, would potentially save the State $45 billion annually, and provide comprehensive health coverage to all New Yorkers without requiring premiums, co-pays, deductibles or limited provider networks. Although the bill passed the Assembly, it is not expected to be brought to the floor for a vote in the Senate. According to Senator Kemp Hannon, chair of the Senate Health Committee, “The bill faces two major hurdles, resistance from senior citizens to giving up Medicare for a new State program and obtaining federal waivers to apply Medicaid and Medicare funding to support it.” Read more about the proposal, here.

What Is The PAC?
Over the last few months, you’ve seen quite a few articles written about the LeadingAge NY Annual Golf Tournament, but are you aware of what the “PAC” is? The LeadingAge NY Political Action Committee, or “PAC,” makes financial contributions to the election campaigns of the legislative leaders, committee chairs and individual legislators who have shown a strong commitment to continuing care. Your donation builds and maintains political connections by funding attendance at political events. Our success depends on members’ contributions. The more money we have, the more we can donate to the campaigns of and attend fundraisers for elected officials who support our political agenda.

Over the course of the year, LeadingAge NY PAC accepts contributions through an annual fund drive that continues January-December, and also hosts events like the Annual LeadingAge NY PAC Golf Tournament. The PAC is also pleased to honor those who step up and become members of the Founders Club, comprised of individual donors who contribute $1,000 or more to the PAC. The Founders Club offers exclusive rewards such as invitations to key political events; choice of start tee at the golf tournament; public recognition of support at the LeadingAge NY Annual Meeting, in all membership materials and in the membership directory; and invitations to participate in political campaign fundraising golf tournaments on LeadingAge New York's foursome team.

Learn more about the PAC or make your donation by visiting the LeadingAge NY PAC website. If you have any questions or would like to find out how you can become involved with the PAC, golf tournament or Founders Club, contact Alyssa Lovelace at 518-867-8844.

Contact: Alyssa Lovelace, alovelace@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8844