Legislative Bulletin: One-House Budget Bills Expected Next Week; Advocacy Continues
March 4, 2022
One-House Budget Bills Expected Next Week
As we began the final month of State Budget work this week, the Legislature has further amplified it’s focus on one-house budgets. As a reminder, a critical part of the State Budget Process is the one-house budgets, which are put forth by the Senate and the Assembly. Each chamber’s one-house budget is a reflection of that house’s priorities for the State Budget, and what they believe a final budget should include. Importantly, in order to have a budget ask included in the final enacted budget it must be included in the Senate one-house, the Assembly one-house or the Executive Budget Proposal.
We expect that the Legislature will be finalizing and making public their one-house budget proposals toward the end of next week so that each house can pass their budget bills by no later than March 15th. After that point, three-way negotiations between the Executive, the Assembly and the Senate will begin in earnest with the goal of delivering an agreed-upon, on-time budget by April 1, 2022.
An important piece and foundation of three-way budget negotiations is the joint Legislative-Executive Consensus on Revenue. In order to agree on a final budget, the three groups must first agree on a financial forecast for the State. On Monday, legislative leaders and the Director of the Division of Budget (DOB) convened a consensus economic and revenue forecasting conference in the form of a joint public hearing. Following the hearing, the DOB posted the Joint Economic and Revenue Consensus Report. According to the report, meeting participants reached consensus on a two-year revenue total range that is $800 million to $1.2 billion above the Executive Budget’s initial estimate.
SAVE THE DATE: CMS Call on White House’s “Nursing Home Vision”
On Monday the White House announced a new nursing home initiative, aimed at protecting seniors and people with disabilities by improving safety and quality of care in the nation’s nursing homes. The Nursing Home proposals were also briefly mentioned in the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Under the direction of the President’s administration, CMS will be leading efforts to set minimum staffing requirements, increase oversight, and making ownership more transparent. CMS plans to outline the details on its “nursing home vision” and implementation strategy through national stakeholder calls, list serves, and collaboration with stakeholders. The next CMS National Nursing Home Stakeholder Call will be held on March 10 at 3pm EST.
Following the White House announcement, LeadingAge National issued a response from Katie Smith Sloan. As national gets to work advocating for our members on these issues, LeadingAge NY will also be following the Federal nursing home policy developments closely and we have already alerted key state lawmakers to the White House’s announcement and potential implications for state policies.
ACTION ALERT: Call Lawmakers in Support of Medication Aides in the Nursing Home
Upon the release of the Executive Budget legislation in mid-January, LeadingAge NY was thrilled to see a version of our Medication Technician (Med Tech) in the nursing home proposal included in the Governor’s budget. This was a big step in the right direction to get this no-cost workforce policy enacted in New York. However, since the release of the Executive Budget bills, the proposal has received some opposition from other advocacy groups. Because of this opposition, the fate of our proposal is unclear.
It is critical that we capitalize on this moment and urge state legislators to include the Governor’s Nursing Home Medication Aide proposal in their one-house budgets! Members are strongly encouraged to pick up the phone and call their lawmakers offices over the weekend and first-thing on Monday to express your support of this proposal.
Members can find legislators’ phone numbers by entering your information here. Upon speaking to offices, please relay the below talking points and feel free to provide any relevant context from your own experience.
Medication Aide Talking Points:
- I am calling you today to urge you to include the Executive Budget’s Nursing Home Medication Aide proposal in your (Senate/Assembly) one-house budget.
- This proposal would authorize specially trained certified nurse aides (CNAs) to work as medication aides in nursing homes, administering routine medications to residents under the supervision of a registered nurse.
- This proposal would help to address the nursing shortage in nursing homes like my own, while providing new opportunities for CNAs and preserving quality and safety.
- Approximately 25 states already authorize medication aides to perform these tasks in nursing homes.
- Here in New York, the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities also already allows unlicensed direct care staff to administer medications. We are simply urging for nursing homes to be permitted to do the same.
- While we are appreciative of the Governor’s recognition of the long-term care workforce crisis and her proposed investments, it will take time to see the effects of those actions in our available workforce.
- Right now, the national guard is still deployed in many nursing homes across the state, helping to alleviate our lack of available staff.
- Medication aides would help provide immediate relief to our workforce challenges. We need flexibility to be able to use our existing workforce more efficiently and effectively, for the benefit of our workers and our residents alike.
Senate Health Committee Ranker Sends LTC Budget Letter to Leadership
Earlier this week, Senate Health Committee Ranker Pat Gallivan sent a long-term care budget letter to Senate leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt, and Senate Health Chair Gustavo Rivera.
The letter, available here, relays many of LeadingAge NY’s top budget priorities and stresses the need for investment given the long history of chronic under-funding and the current financial position of the State. Senator Gallivan was joined by eight other Senate Minority signatories in sending the letter, all of which are reflective of our members’ diligent budget advocacy. Because these lawmakers were already informed on our issues and key budget requests, their sign-on to the letter came in a timely and effective manner, re-enforcing our message to leaders as they deliberate over the Senate One-House.
LeadingAge NY Urges Governor to Prioritize Affordable Senior Housing for Broadband Expansion
LeadingAge NY President and CEO Jim Clyne submitted a letter to Governor Hochul today, urging the State to prioritize connectivity for low-income seniors and other vulnerable populations living in affordable housing as it plans to distribute more than $1 billion in State and federal funds to expand broadband infrastructure and access.
Many affordable housing properties lack wall-to-wall internet, negatively impacting property operations and – more importantly – resident wellbeing. With limited opportunities to access the internet, low-income older adults and other vulnerable New Yorkers living in subsidized housing have largely been excluded from digital advances in telemedicine and socialization that could help them stay healthy and avoid more costly levels of care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Outfitting entire multifamily properties receiving subsidy would leverage existing public investment to optimize the direct benefit of broadband expansion funds on target demographics and, in addition, would result in lasting improvements for future low-income renters, the letter notes.
Read the full letter here, and don’t forget to help the State determine where and why broadband expansion is most desperately needed in your community by taking this short survey by Fri., March 18th.
LeadingAge NY Provides Public Comment at PHHPC Meeting
The Public Health and Health Planning Council held a meeting on Tuesday which included a discussion on “Health Across All Policies/Healthy Aging” as well as the public health workforce. The meeting also included allotted time for public comment, during which, Karen Lipson of LeadingAge NY weighed in.
Lipson, Executive Vice President of LeadingAge NY, used her brief public comment time to highlight that the healthcare needs of older adults have been overlooked for far too long. In light of the pandemic, Lipson says “we really need to come together and have a concerted focus on the needs of older adults and the systems that serve them”. During her comments, which are available here for viewing, Lipson also weighs in on the 1115 Waiver concept paper and her concerns that without direct attention to older adults through the waiver process, aging New Yorkers will once again be overlooked.
ACTION ALERT: Send Your Lawmakers LTC Budget Letters TODAY!
Now that the Senate and Assembly is beginning to finalize their one-house budget proposals, and our grassroots advocacy efforts are well underway, it is critical that we re-enforce our message and priorities to legislators via email letter writing. Digital advocacy letters are an easy way to engage in budget advocacy and ensure that your lawmakers understand your top SFY 2022-23 budget priorities.
Using the below links, members can easily send digital advocacy letters to their State Senator, Assembly Member, and the Governor with just a few clicks! Our LeadingAge NY network of advocates has a broad and powerful reach, and it is critical that we engage with as many lawmakers as possible at this important stage of the budget process.
This is a critical time for legislators to hear from you! Please use the links below to send messages to your legislators and the Governor TODAY! After you send your letters, please be sure to share links with your colleagues and board members to expand our advocacy reach.
Invest in High Quality Nursing Home Care in This Year’s Budget
Invest in ACF/AL Providers and Workforce in This Year’s Budget
Provide Adequate Reimbursement and Investment to HCBS
Ensure Access to Safe and Affordable Senior Housing in this Year’s Budget
Oppose Competitive Procurement of Medicaid MLTC Plans
Support Adult Day Health Care in This Year’s Budget
DOH and OHIP Budget Webinar Recording Now Available
The New York State (NYS) Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP) hosted an informational webinar outlining the NYS Medicaid Budget Proposals for the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2022-23 Executive Budget on Wednesday, Feb. 23rd. The slide presentation from this webinar has been posted to the Department of Health website here, and a recording of the webinar is also now available here.
LeadingAge NY joined the webinar and posed several budget-related questions to the offices prior to the webcast. Policy staff also submitted questions during the Q&A portion of the webinar which lasted nearly an hour. Submitted questions included inquiries about details of the nursing home quality pool funding, distressed provider funding, the exclusion of adult care facilities from VAPAP funding, telehealth for home health and adult day health care services, and more. Unfortunately, none of our distinct questions were addressed during the call, and there was not much new information provided.
LeadingAge NY will continue to try to get our out-standing questions addressed by the DOH, OHIP and/or legislative leadership. As we learn more, we may have new advocacy action items for members to engage in. Stay tuned.
Renewed Executive Order Extends the Delay in Staffing Requirements
On Monday, Feb. 28th, Governor Hochul issued Executive Order 4.6 extending her previous EOs (4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4, 4.5) through March 31, 2022. There were no new "orders" issued as part of this EO; however, it continues the suspension of the 70/40 minimum direct care spending regulation enforcement as well as the minimum staffing regulation enforcement through at least March 31st. Members should also note that EO 4.6 continues to allow several workforce flexibilities, including the continuation of the use of out-of-state licensed staff in the nursing home setting without a New York State-issued nursing license as well as several home care flexibilities.
LeadingAge NY understands that month-to-month extensions offer limited relief and do not allow members to plan for the future. As you likely know, our state budget advocacy includes requests to delay minimum staffing requirements for two years and to modify the calculation of minimum spending. We hope that you are carrying forward these messages in your meetings with legislators.
Urge Congress to Fund Vital Aging Programs and Services
It is time for Congress to pass a long-term government funding bill that sustains and expands investments in home and community-based services, affordable housing for low-income older adults, and measures that address the aging services sector’s severe workforce challenges. Continuing resolutions do not allow for increases to key federal programs that sustain our aging services infrastructure.
CLICK HERE to send a message to your members of Congress TODAY, urging them to invest in aging services!
Right now, congressional leaders are negotiating federal investments in aging services programs for next year and we need your help! Too many older adults are struggling to access the essential services they need and funding levels must increase. Senators and Representatives must hear from constituents like you to stress the message that they can’t leave older adults behind.
LeadingAge National Leadership Summit and Lobby Days
LeadingAge National is hosting its Leadership Summit on March 28-30, in-person, in Washington D.C. The leadership summit convenes thought leaders from across the aging services sector for mission-critical conversations. The summit is among the most valuable networking events in the field, bringing together providers, businesses and policy experts over three days of keynotes, education sessions, VIP discussions, and meetings on Capitol Hill. More information on the summit itself is available here.
LeadingAge’s Lobby Days will be held in tandem with the summit. Although many congressional offices are staying remote and virtual at this time, LeadingAge’s goal is to organize and schedule as many in-person meetings with congressional offices as possible as part of their 2022 Lobby Day activities. If you are interested in joining us to urge Congress to properly support and fund the nation’s aging services and the care needs of older adults, please click here to register for the Leadership Summit!
Once you are registered for the summit and in-person lobbying, LeadingAge will get to work on setting up meetings with congressional offices on your behalf. If a congressional office is only offering a virtual meeting option, LeadingAge will then work with members to schedule a virtual meeting at a later date.
To ensure members are prepared for congressional meetings, LeadingAge will also be hosting a virtual “Know Before You Go” webinar with The Advocacy Guru, Stephanie Vance on Tuesday, March 22nd from 2-3pm to go over talking points, tips on how to have in-person meetings in this new environment and logistical support. Invites for attendees to register for the webinar will be coming soon, and it will also be recorded for member reference.
If you have questions about engaging in federal advocacy initiatives, please feel free to contact Sarah Daly (sdaly@leadingageny.org) and we can help you get the answers you may be looking for.
LeadingAge & LeadingAge New York 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
COVID-19 Group in the MyLeadingAge Member Community
LeadingAge National Coronavirus Policy Updates – Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. Past call recordings are available here and you can register here for future calls.
Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org