Legislative Bulletin: Approaching the Final 15 Days of Session
State Legislature Approaches Final 15 Session Days
This legislative session has been a particularly active one for the state legislature, with the Senate introducing 6,138 bills and the Assembly introducing 7,710 thus far. With just 15 days of session remaining, the Senate is looking at a robust calendar of bills that could potentially be called up for passing over these next 5 weeks. LeadingAge New York has been watching committee meetings and bill movement closely and is working actively to determine which pieces of legislation may be threatening to LeadingAge membership. More specifically, the following bills have new life and require your immediate advocacy:
- Increased Penalties for ACF providers A.4416 (Gottfried)/S.3460 (Rivera): increases the potential penalties for ACF violations from $1,000 to $5,000 per violation per day and makes changes to the process by which an ACF can rectify a violation.
- The bill was added to the Senate Floor Calendar this week and has not yet seen movement in the Assembly. LeadingAge NY has issued a memo of opposition but your advocacy is vital in stopping this bill from passing the Senate! Click here to contact your lawmakers today!
- Restricts Use of Psychotropic Medications in SNF & ACF A.1033 (Gottfried)/S.5441 (Sepulveda): would require an enhanced level of informed consent before psychotropic medications can be prescribed for residents of nursing facilities (NFs) or adult care facilities (ACFs).
- The bill has already passed the Assembly and we anticipate seeing movement in the Senate. LeadingAge NY has issued a memo of opposition but your advocacy is vital in stopping this bill from passing the Senate! Click here to contact your lawmakers today!
The window of opportunity to advance our priority legislation is rapidly closing. If we want to see a conversation around our top priorities, we need to start the discussion ourselves. The best way to do this is to engage our lawmakers on social media – Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram or LinkedIn.
Below is a list of LeadingAge New York Priority Issues. Click the provided links to post a social media message about the issues most important to you!
- CCRC Revitalization Act: S.1803 (Rivera) would reform CCRC laws and regulatory oversight, eliminating many of the current barriers to developing, expanding, and efficiently operating CCRCs in New York State. Click here to contact your lawmakers through email and social media!
- SSI Increase for ACFs: S.2601 (Serino) would increase the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) reimbursement rate for adult care facilities (ACFs) by $20 per day per resident over five years, beginning April 1, 2019. Click here to send your lawmakers a pre-written letter or tweet urging their support.
- Role of the Nurse in ACFs: S.1788 (Rivera) would allow all ACFs and assisted living providers that employ nurses the option to provide nursing services directly. Click here to engage with your legislators on this bill through email and social media!
- Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program: A.4358 (Cymbrowitz)/S.4538 (Kavanagh) would establish an Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program to complement the State’s historic commitment of $125 million for senior housing capital and create a cost-effective model for seniors to age in place. Click here to encourage your lawmakers to co-sponsor this important legislation!
Your continued advocacy and communications to lawmakers will help to ensure that these bills be addressed this legislative session. While LeadingAge New York connects with legislators in Albany we need the support of our members, the constituents, to keep the pressure on and finish the 2019 session strong!
Assembly Health Committee Meeting Set for Tuesday
The Assembly Health Committee will once again be meeting on Tuesday, May 21st at 1:00pm. On the agenda next week is a new bill with several old proposals grouped together. A.4757-A (Gottfried)/S.5908 (Rivera) is expansive, authorizing DOH to require a nursing home to contract with an independent quality monitor, requiring operators to notify DOH of any common ownership of any entity providing services to the facility, along with several other provisions.
LeadingAge New York is reviewing this legislation closely and will keep you informed of any updates and required advocacy.
Prevailing Wage Update
We have been working with lawmakers to modify legislation that would impose prevailing wage requirements on most development that utilizes any state funding, including tax exempt bonds and PILOTs. We are making progress so please keep up the pressure and let your lawmakers know that you cannot afford these mandates.
- Prevailing Wage: A.1261 (Bronson)/S.1947 (Ramos) would impose public works “prevailing wage” requirements on most types of private sector projects receiving any level of financial support from state or local entities, increasing overall construction project costs by 15-20%. Click here to urge your legislators to exempt senior services providers from the legislation.
LeadingAge New York Submits Housing Testimony
As has been reported in previous bulletins, both the Senate and Assembly Housing Committees have been holding a series of public hearings regarding rental housing and tenant protections. While the bulk of the discussion and the issues covered would not necessarily impact LeadingAge NY housing providers, we have been monitoring the hearings closely, listening for the mention of a concerning topic – limitations on security deposits.
Fortunately, there is still no formal bill addressing the issue in either the Assembly or the Senate. The Assembly series of the hearings has concluded and there was no discussion on the topic there either. LeadingAge NY has submitted written testimony to the Assembly Housing committee, to educate the committee and be proactive on the issue. Our testimony can be found here.
The Senate housing hearings are still underway. LeadingAge NY will be watching those hearings and submitting written testimony following the Albany hearing on May 22nd.
LeadingAge NY Represented on Key Workgroups
LeadingAge NY and its members are well represented on two key workgroups emanating from the enacted 2019-20 State Budget – one on nursing home case mix and the other on Fiscal Intermediaries (FIs) for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Services (CDPAP) program.
Nursing home case mix workgroup appointees include LeadingAge NY members Chris Koenig (Niagara Lutheran, Buffalo); Michelle Synakowski (Community Wellness Partners, Clinton); Robert Werner (Parker Jewish Institute, New Hyde Park); and Paul Rosenfeld (Rutland Nursing Home, Brooklyn) as well as LeadingAge NY staff Dan Heim and Darius Kirstein. The FI workgroup includes LeadingAge NY member Andy Cruikshank (Fort Hudson Health System, Fort Edward) and staff person Darius Kirstein.
Under the final budget, the methodology utilized to calculate case mix adjustments to nursing home rates is slated to change effective July 1, 2019. Among the several FI provisions, the final budget requires a significant consolidation of FI providers, assurances for provision of FI services geographically and culturally, and a workgroup to address alleged overutilization of the CDPAP program.
Will We See You in Saratoga Next Week?
Time is running out, but you can still register for LeadingAge New York’s upcoming Annual Conference & Exposition! The conference, to be held at the Saratoga Hilton and Saratoga Springs City Center from Monday, May 20th to Wednesday, May 23rd, is packed with informative sessions and opportunities to network with like-minded peers. The conference is built to serve members of all service lines and will inspire fresh ideas, winning strategies and innovative improvements you can quickly implement in your organization.
Among the wide selection of sessions, attendees will have the opportunity to attend a free, full-day pre-conference intensive on Workforce and end the conference by asking questions at the Legislative and Budget Update delivered by Dan Heim and Ami Schnauber of LeadingAge New York.
You will not want to miss this! Click here to register today!
Ami Schnauber, aschnauber@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8854
Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8845