Legislative Bulletin: LeadingAge NY CEO Testifies at Health Budget Hearing

March 3, 2023

Governor Hochul Releases 30-Day Amendments

This afternoon, the Governor released budget legislation containing 30-day amendments (“30-days”) to the Executive Budget. While the vast majority of the amendments are technical in nature, there are a few modifications to the Executive’s proposed Budget that members may be interested in.

Most notably, the “30-days” amend the MLTC procurement provision of the Executive Budget to provide an additional pathway to qualify for renewal of a plan’s authority to operate.  Plans that operate a Medicare  Dual  Eligible  Special  Needs  Plan, that has continuously enrolled no fewer than 5,000 NYS residents in the immediately preceding calendar year would be qualified to continue operating, if they meet the other qualifying criteria.   

The other amendments provided in the 30-days appear to be minor and technical. However, LeadingAge NY will keep members apprised of any more meaningful changes we notice are proposed over the coming days.

Now that the 30-day amendments have been released, each chamber of the Legislature is expected to accelerate their work on their one-house budget proposals. One-house budgets are expected to be finalized by March 15^th, or sooner. A Final State Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget, agreed upon by the Senate, Assembly, and the Governor, will be due before April 1, 2023. For those interested, the 30-day amendment legislation is posted on the Department of Budget website here.

 

LeadingAge NY CEO Testifies at Health Budget Hearing

The Legislature held its Joint Legislative Hearing on the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023-24 Health/Medicaid Budget on Tues. Feb. 28^th. The hearing began at 10 a.m. and concluded around 7 p.m., after hours of testimony and questions posed by lawmakers. In attendance at the hearing were Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger, Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Helene Weinstein, Senate Health Committee Chair Gustavo Rivera, Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin, along with many members of the Senate and Assembly Health Committees. Senate Health Committee Ranker Gallivan and Assembly Health Committee Ranker Jensen were also in attendance at the hearing and asked numerous questions of state agencies and stakeholders.

During the early hours of the hearing, the Legislature received testimony from Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, James V. McDonald,  Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, Adrienne Harris, and Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri. Following their testimony, the Chairs and members of the Health Committees posed questions to the state agency leadership for several hours, inquiring about how the proposed Executive Budget would meet the health care needs of all New Yorkers and why funding allocated in previous years’ budgets had not yet been disbursed. An early focus of questioning was related to the needs of older adults and people with disabilities, as well as the significant investments proposed for mental health services. There were several questions from lawmakers pertaining to the availability of nursing home care in the state and the health care workforce crisis plaguing nursing homes and other providers. When several senators inquired about nursing home workforce funding provided in the SFY 22-23 budget, officials indicated that the $187 million appropriated last year would be disbursed before April 1, 2023.

LeadingAge NY President and CEO, Jim Clyne, was selected to offer in-person testimony at the hearing and also submitted written testimony to complement the three minutes allotted to speak. Clyne testified at 4 p.m. in Albany on Tuesday, but if you missed it or were not able to tune in, a clip of his testimony and questions is available here. An archived recording of the full hearing is also available here, with LeadingAge NY testimony beginning at 5:32:25.

 

LeadingAge NY Submits Housing Budget Testimony 

The Legislature held its Joint Legislative Hearing on the Housing Budget on Weds. March 1^st. In attendance were Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger, Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Helene Weinstein, Acting Senate Finance and Housing Committee Ranker Pamela Helming, and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Ranker Edward Ra. Also in attendance were Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh, Assembly Housing Chair Linda Rosenthal other members of the Senate and Assembly Housing Committees.

The hearing was led by the testimony of NYS Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner & CEO RuthAnne Visnauskas. Common themes throughout the hearing included the Executive’s “New York Housing Compact” proposal to create 800,000 new units of housing over the next decade and the expected affordability of the units that would result from the proposal. Witnesses and legislators also discussed additional methods – such as the creation of a Housing Access Voucher Program and prohibition of eviction without “good cause” – to combat housing instability and lack of affordability more immediately, as well as the proposed extension of the contentious 421-a tax abatement completion deadline for certain projects.

LeadingAge NY submitted written testimony to all participating committees, highlighting the need for State investment in low-cost programs to support low- and middle-income older adults aging in their homes, such as our proposed Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program and middle-income senior housing development. In addition, the testimony urges the State to assist communities in identifying and promoting projects spearheaded by small, local, and not-for-profit organizations serving seniors and other vulnerable populations as they work to meet housing growth goals set forth by the Executive’s Compact proposal.

If you missed the hearing but would like to listen to the housing budget discussion, an archived recording is available here.

 

Share and Send Digital Budget Advocacy Letters TODAY!

As we await the release of one-house budget proposals in mid-March, it is critical that we keep the funding needs of long-term care and aging services providers top-of-mind for legislators. LeadingAge New York has crafted the below service-line specific digital advocacy letters to help us keep the pressure on legislators for the remainder of 2023-24 budget discussions. Each letter takes only a minute or two to send. Simply enter your information to automatically send an email to the Governor and your State Senator and Assembly Member!

Please use the below links to send messages to your legislators and the Governor TODAY!

• Nursing Home Budget Letters – several letters available for family members, staff, residents, etc.
• Affordable Senior Housing Budget Letter
• ACF/ALP & Low-Income Seniors Budget Letter
• ALR Budget Letter
• Home & Community-Based Services Budget Letter
• Managed Long-Term Care Budget Letter
•  Adult Day Health Care Budget Letter
• CCRC Budget Letter

After you send your letters, we strongly encourage members to share these links with residents, families, staff, board members and volunteers. This is a simple and easy way to amplify our message!

 

March Budget Advocacy Forecast  

Since we kicked off our grassroots budget advocacy efforts on Feb. 6^th, just days after the release of the Executive Budget, LeadingAge New York and our members have been hard at work connecting with legislators and legislative staff to discuss top budget priorities.

Over the last 25 days, the following advocacy activities have taken place by LeadingAge NY and our members:

• More than 105 meetings held with legislators and staff;
• More than 3,800 nursing home budget letters sent;
• More than 170 affordable senior housing budget letters sent; and
• A new social media advocacy campaign launched, targeting legislative leaders and local elected officials.

The substance of this advocacy activity has remained focused on the following issues:

• Increase nursing home and long-term care (ADHC & ALP) Medicaid rates by 20%;
• Authorize the use of medication aides in nursing homes;
• Establish and fund an affordable senior housing resident assistance program; and
• The need to address the long-term care workforce crisis.

Now, as we find ourselves in the month of March, it is critical that we position ourselves for a strong finish to our 2023 budget advocacy. We are hearing that Senate and Assembly one-house budgets may be released on March 13^th, at which point both houses and the Governor will begin their “three-way” budget negotiations. The three entities will debate and negotiate a final budget by April 1, 2023 if they aim to deliver an on-time budget.

In the weeks leading up to April 1^st, the focus and strategies of our advocacy may shift. While it is critical at this stage that we continue to connect with our local legislators and legislative leadership, the focus later this month will shift to the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Senate Majority Leader, and other key committee appointees.

This is the most grassroots advocacy activity we have ever seen at this stage of the state budget process, and we thank our members for all you are doing. We thank you and we urge you to stay engaged with us throughout the month of March.

To support your ongoing advocacy, LeadingAge New York’s state budget legislative handouts are available here. Additionally, our Virtual Advocacy Week website will remain active, providing materials and resources through-out the state budget process. Finally, we urge you to stay apprised of the latest updates with our Legislative Bulletins, and social media action alerts that will be sent via email as is necessary.

 

Governor Hochul Appoints Robert Megna as Budget Director

In a press release on Tuesday, Governor Hochul announced the appointment of former Department of Budget (DOB) Director Bob Megna as Budget Director. According to the release, Mr. Megna starts immediately and plans to serve through the current legislative session and assist with the search for a long-term Budget Director before returning to SUNY, where he serves as President of the Rockefeller Institute of Government and Senior Advisor to the Chancellor.

The appointment comes as the state enters the final few weeks of budget work, moving toward the finalization of a state budget for fiscal year 2023-24.

 

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 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