Legislative Bulletin: Days Away from the Final Budget Deadline
Legislative leaders have their eyes on the clock as they quickly approach the April 1st budget deadline.
Days Before the Deadline, Governor and Legislature Still Finalizing Budget Agreement
What is believed to be the final week of budget negotiations began with the approval of the first and least controversial piece of the state budget - the Debt Services appropriations bill. The bill was passed on Tuesday and is considered to be straightforward, simply guaranteeing that New York State will pay its outstanding debts. It wasn’t until late last night that we began to see a flurry of activity, with several substantive budget bills including Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation (TED) and Education, Labor and Family Assistance (ELFA) now in print.
The TED bill includes language to mandate the recycling of food waste, but we are happy to report that it expressly exempts hospitals, nursing homes and ACFs from the mandate. Additionally, we appear to have been successful at getting the prevailing wage provisions taken out of the budget. However, the legislature and governor have promised to pass prevailing wage legislation before the end of session. Read below for a full update on the prevailing wage issue.
The legislature and executive are clearly making progress as they work toward an on-time budget, however, several major budget bills have yet to be agreed upon – Health and Mental Hygiene (HMH), Revenue and Aid to Localities. The timeline for finalizing the bills is uncertain, but we may see HMH by the end of this evening with the Revenue and Aid to Localities bills likely to come out some time on Sunday. Both houses are expected to begin passing budget bills on Sunday.
LeadingAge New York is reviewing budget bills as they become available and will be sharing a summary of “what’s in and what’s out” of the 2019-2020 New York State Budget shortly after it’s passing. We are optimistic about the outcome for many of our priority issues and are grateful for your participation in our advocacy efforts. Stay tuned.
Have a Capital Project in the Works? Prevailing Wage Will Increase Costs
The state Senate and Assembly have advanced a proposal in the budget that 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, including bond issuances, grants, tax abatements and other government assistance. Prevailing wage requirements could increase labor costs by 25 percent or more, thereby increasing overall construction project costs by 15-20 percent for many types of projects that would be affected by this expanded wage mandate.
Even when “the state or public entities” provide relatively small amounts of financial support – such as being able to offer a lower interest rate or lower fees on a borrowing – this legislation would deem the project a public work and make it subject to prevailing wages. With no additional funding provided for in this legislation, the cost of this 15-20 percent “construction tax” would ultimately need to be passed on to seniors and their families.
LeadingAge New York has been working with a large coalition of providers to get these provisions removed from the budget and the issue is still very fluid. We have worked hard over the past few days to seek exemptions to the prevailing wage provisions for our members. As of yesterday, there appeared to be agreement to exempt hospitals, nursing homes and affordable housing. We quickly educated lawmakers about the negative impact this mandate would have on senior housing, assisted living and CCRCs. We are very pleased that our advocacy seems to have been effective and the latest information we have is that prevailing wage will be removed from the budget and handled legislatively. While this is good news for now, it is crucial that we keep up the pressure to ensure that there are exemptions for nursing homes, affordable housing, CCRCs, ACF/AL and non-profit senior housing.
Even if we are successful in getting the proposal out of the budget, we expect that the legislature will want to move on this bill A.1261(Bronson)/S.1947(Ramos) immediately following the budget’s passing. If you are planning or building a capital project using state or local financial programs, we strongly encourage you to reach out to your legislators to inform them of the potential impact!
Tell your Legislators:
- Non-profit providers cannot afford prevailing wage requirements that will increase the costs of construction. [Share the impact this proposal would have on your development plans]. Renovations and capital projects are vital in ensuring quality care and homes for New York’s seniors.
- Please oppose prevailing wage provisions for non-profit senior housing, ACF/AL, CCRCs as well as nursing homes and affordable housing.
- Our budget-specific memo of opposition can be found here.
- Click here for legislator contact information
State Court of Appeals Upholds 13-Hour Rule
The New York Court of Appeals issued its decision in Andryeyeva V. New York Health Care Inc. and Moreno V. Future Care Health Servs. Inc. on Tuesday, reversing the appellate division’s previous decision to reject the 13-hour rule. The rule requires caregivers to be paid for at least 13 hours of a 24-hour shift as long as the aide is given three hours of meal break time and eight hours of sleep, five of which must be uninterrupted. The Court of Appeals decision to uphold the 13-hour rule as it’s currently interpreted by the state Department of Labor saves home care providers from a costly restructuring of live-in caregiver compensation.
This is a big win for home care providers, however, it doesn’t rule out all potential litigation surrounding the 13-hour rule. We will likely continue to see legal fights in instances that appropriate meal and sleep requirements for 24-hour caregivers are not met.
Hinman Straub issued a thorough memo on the court’s decision which can be viewed here.
Affordable Care Act Under Fire
Early this week, The U.S. Department of Justice and the Trump administration took a broader stance against the Affordable Care Act (ACA), telling a federal appeals court the entire law can be discarded. At the heart of the case, which originated at a district court in Texas, is whether the entire Affordable Care Act can stand without the individual mandate penalty that the GOP-led Congress effectively eliminated in the 2017 tax law. The Trump administration has since doubled down on the decision to get involved with the lawsuit and suggesting that “the Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care” and that there will be a more successful healthcare solution to replace the Affordable Care Act.
LeadingAge, VNAA, and ElevatingHOME Announce Affiliation
LeadingAge has taken an important step towards increasing its impact and influence across the full continuum of services and supports for people as they age. Last month, the organization entered into an agreement with the intent to affiliate with the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) and ElevatingHOME. All three organizations have shared visions, similar missions, and a deep commitment to service. They are committed to high quality, person-centered care for individuals in whatever setting they call home. And, as a member of both LeadingAge NY and LeadingAge National, you will enjoy the benefits of this new partnership as well.
ElevatingHOME and its subsidiary, VNAA, are member-led organizations working to expand the definition of and conversation around home-based care, supporting providers of home health and hospice services. Many LeadingAge members currently offer these services; LeadingAge and VNAA/ElevatingHOME also have several members in common. We believe that together we will have an even greater impact in advocating for sound public policy, serving our members, and fostering innovative practices that will lead to the transformation of service delivery.
Over the next several months, our three organizations will move forward in the process of achieving strategic and operational alignment. We believe that bringing together VNAA’s clinical practice expertise, ElevatingHOME’s commitment to strengthen home-based care, and LeadingAge’s tradition of serving the full continuum with our focus on shaping the future to meet the needs of an increasing number of older adults creates significant and exciting opportunities for all of us.
We look forward to engaging in our important work together.
Connecting with Congress
The April recess is approaching and is a great time to connect with your representatives, republican and democrat alike. With New York well represented in the House, it is important that lawmakers understand our federal issues. We encourage you to schedule meetings with your congress members and invite them to visit your organization. The House Session Calendar and the Senate Session Calendar are great tools for planning an in-district meeting with lawmakers. You can use the below federal issue briefs to help make your representatives aware of our national policy priorities:
Ami Schnauber, aschnauber@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8854
Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8845