Legislative Bulletin: Legislature Reviews Remaining Priorities for 2021 Session
May 14, 2021
Legislature Reviews Remaining Priorities for 2021 Session
The New York State Legislature is expected to conclude their 2021 legislative work on June 10th. As we look to the final month of session, many are wondering what issues the Legislature will choose to focus its efforts on. There is also some question as to whether or not the Legislature will become distracted by the results of the ongoing investigations into Governor Cuomo that are expected to be released in the near future.
Jack O’Donnell, founder of O’Donnell & Associates in Buffalo told Capital Tonight that it appears the legislature is functioning well in spite of all the distractions and there are several issues that have seemed to gain some recent momentum. "Data privacy is a big issue,” he said. “After a lot of noise around its inclusion in the executive budget proposal in January, the governor’s proposed New York Data Accountability and Transparency Act quietly fell out of the final budget agreement”. Other potential priorities include the Adult Survivors Act and criminal justice reforms.
Urge Lawmakers to Provide Financial Relief to ACF/AL
New York’s senior living providers have incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in expenses to procure gowns, gloves, masks, and other infection control supplies, to provide well-deserved hero pay to staff, to hire additional staff, and to provide weekly staff testing as mandated by DOH. Additionally, declining occupancy rates due to temporary discontinuation of admissions and limitations on visitation resulted in substantial revenue losses.
In recognition of the critical role all ACFs/ALRs/ALPs play in the long-term care continuum, LeadingAge New York, Argentum NY, Empire State Association of Assisted Living (ESAAL) and NYSCAL are urging the Legislature to provide a one-time request of $75 million to help preserve these essential services for New York’s seniors and their families.
CLICK HERE to urge lawmakers to provide critical financial relief to New York’s ACFs, ALRs and ALPs!
LeadingAge NY Priorities in the Final Month of Session
As reported above, the 2021 Legislative Session is scheduled to conclude on June 10th and the final weeks of session are certain to come and go quickly. LeadingAge NY is continuing to pursue legislative priorities such as the role of the nurse in adult care facilities (ACF) and medication technicians in nursing homes. We also are pursuing legislation to allow Hospice in the ALP and to resolve outstanding issues with E-prescribing. We are currently working on finding an Assembly sponsor for our Role of the Nurse legislation and we are finalizing language for a medication technician bill. We will continue to keep members updated on all of these efforts and more. In the meantime, we need to make sure legislators are aware of our push for allowing nurses to work as nurses in ACF settings. Please take a moment to send the below digital advocacy letter to your lawmakers!
We also need to keep the pressure on in our opposition to a few bills that are still on the Senate and Assembly Calendars. The ACF Penalties bill A.196 (Gottfried)/S.1576 (Rivera), which proposes an increase in potential penalties for ACF violations from up to $1,000 per day to $2,000 per violation per day—or $3,000 per day for a repeat violation, has been laid aside in the Assembly and is on the Senate Calendar. Additionally, a bill that further restricts the use of psychotropic medications in nursing homes and ACFs, A.196 (Gottfried)/S.1576 (Rivera), has also been laid aside in the Assembly and is on the Senate calendar. Either of these bills could be taken up and pass on any upcoming session day, so we need to ensure lawmakers know our position. Please take a moment to send the below letters of opposition to your lawmakers!
- Urge Lawmakers to Reject an Increase in Penalties for Adult Care Facilities - Memo of Opposition
- Oppose Further Restrictions on Psychotropic Medications in Nursing Homes and ACFs - Memo of Opposition
We ask members to please stay engaged with us on all legislative updates and action alerts that will come during this final month of session. Your participation in advocacy thus far is likely the reason that the above two bills were laid aside in the Assembly. Thank you, as always, for your advocacy.
Impact of the New York Hero Act on Private Employers
On May 5th the Governor signed into law the Hero Act A.2681-B (Reyes)/S.1034-B (Gianaris), a two-part piece of legislation expanding and amending the labor law to provide protections to employees in the workplace relative to the exposure to airborne infectious disease and allowing employees to participate in a workplace safety committee. Subsequent to the bill’s passage, a Chapter Amendment was negotiated and recently introduced (A.7477). We anticipate it will be passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor shortly thereafter. This Chapter Amendment revises certain aspects of the law with the intent to address some of the concerns raised by private businesses.
The first part of the Hero Act creates a new section of the labor law that requires private employers to adopt an airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plan. This will take effect on July 4, 2021, 60 days after it has been signed into law by the Governor.
The second part of the Hero Act adds a new section to the labor law, requiring private employers to allow employees to establish and administer a joint labor-management workplace safety committee at each worksite. This section will take effect on November 1, 2021, 180 days after the Governor has signed it into law.
Hinman Straub has issued a memorandum on this legislation and its impacts on private employers. LeadingAge NY is doing its own analysis of the legislation and will be sure to advise members on things they may need to do to come into compliance with the new law.
Urge Congress to Invest in Our Aging Infrastructure
Aging services are an essential part of the nation’s infrastructure. There are 52 million people over age 65, a population that is expected to double by 2040. Right now, we don’t have the infrastructure for aging services that we need—and the systems we do have are crumbling. The COVID-19 pandemic made clear the tragic human consequences that can happen when our systems are weak.
It is no longer acceptable that our health care system largely ignores a set of services that half of older adults need or will need in our country.
LeadingAge National’s Blueprint for a Better Aging Infrastructure is a set of recommendations that address the economic, social, and racial inequities older Americans face by:
- Expanding access to long-term care at home and in our communities.
- Increasing affordable housing for older adults
- Investing in the physical and technological infrastructure of aging services—including high-speed broadband access.
The blueprint, which LeadingAge has shared with Congress, also addresses the fundamental need to better support and grow our aging services workforce. Please help us build awareness and support for these recommendations by asking Congress to invest in these vital programs today!
LeadingAge & LeadingAge NY Coronavirus Resources
LeadingAge NY continues to closely follow all COVID-19 news and we are doing our best to keep members informed of updates, recommendations and guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH).
LeadingAge NY and LeadingAge National Member resources are linked below.
LeadingAge NY Coronavirus Resources
LeadingAge NY COVID-19 Weekly Update calls – Mondays at 11 a.m. Click here to join the call from your computer, android or apple device. Or you can join the call by dialing in: 877 853 5257 (Toll Free); Webinar ID: 852 964 255.
LeadingAge National Coronavirus Resources Page
LeadingAge National Pandemic Playbook
COVID-19 Group in the MyLeadingAge Member Community
Coronavirus Daily Member Update calls – Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Past call recordings are available here and you can register here for future calls.
Contact: Ami Schnauber; 518.867.8854; aschnauber@leadingageny.org
Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org