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Legislative Bulletin: Governor Hochul Releases 30-Day Amendments

February 16, 2024

Governor Hochul Releases 30-Day Amendments

Last night, the Governor released budget legislation containing 30-day amendments (“30-days”) to the Executive Budget. The amendments provide some additional details and proposals representative of the Governor’s intentions for this year’s budget. Unfortunately, the details revealed by the 30-days offer additional reason for concern for LeadingAge New York members and the long-term care (LTC) continuum. The Executive appears to be leaning in to proposed cuts to our sector, and has not offered meaningful amendments to provide additional funds.

LeadingAge NY will be providing a brief summary of these changes to be shared later this afternoon, via direct email, and later posted on our website here.

The main takeaway – Governor Hochul is NOT addressing the care needs of older adults, our workforce or our providers in the proposed budget. Instead, she proposes cuts; erasing the progress we made in last year’s budget and piling-on to the 15 years of underfunding our sector and aging New Yorkers have already endured.

From now until March 8th, it is critical that members implement the advocacy tools provided by LeadingAge NY. We need our collective membership and network of advocates to make as much noise as possible to capture and maintain the attention of legislators as they craft their one-house budget proposals, due in early March.

  

NEW Draft Social Media Messages Call on Legislators to Fund Long-Term Care

LeadingAge NY is launching a NEW Social Media Toolkit, offering a suite of pre-written social media messages, and graphics. All of our latest social media messages have been crafted in light of the Executive Budget Proposal (released Jan. 16 and amended on Feb. 15) and our subsequent analysis of that budget proposal and its potential impacts on our members.

Members are strongly encouraged to use these social media resources as much as possible from now until March 8th. We need our members to amplify our unified message and ensure that lawmakers and the general public understand why non-profit long-term care providers, and the residents and consumers that are in our care, depend on state funding.  

If ALL of our members use these resources and tools in a consistent manner – posting and TAGGING LEGISLATORS at least one or two times a week– we have the power to influence state funding decisions and secure INVESTMENTS in LTC, rather than CUTS.

 

ACTION ALERT: Amplify LeadingAge NY Member Social Media Posts!

In addition to the above social media toolkit, LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to help amplify the powerful social media messages from LeadingAge NY peers across the state. We encourage members to “Like” and “Share” the posts that were made by partner organizations. The more “likes” a post has, the more support for our budget initiatives!

Please take a moment to click the below links, and “LIKE”/”Share” the below Facebook posts! It only takes a few clicks and will drive social media traffic and the attention of lawmakers!

Not seeing your social media post here? When you post, be sure to “tag” your local legislators and use our current hashtag #NYHealthBudgetGap, #SupportOurSeniors, or #NursingHomeSOS!

Increase Your Impact!

If you share a Facebook post, you don’t need to write anything else, but please take a moment to TAG State Legislators! Identify your state legislator’s social media “handle” (@) so you can easily tag them. Find your legislators here, and then google their name followed by “Facebook” (EX. Senator Michelle Hinchey, Facebook) to confirm the social media handle. You should tag BOTH your State Senator and Assembly Member.

Thank you for joining us in digital advocacy!

 

Affordable Senior Housing Members – Raise Your Voice for the Resident Assistant Program!

LeadingAge NY has created NEW advocacy resources for members to use in our initiative to establish and fund a Resident Assistant (RA) Program in Affordable Senior Housing in New York!

First, if you have not already done so, please take a moment to send a digital advocacy letter, urging legislators to invest $10 Million over 5 years to fund the program. CLICK HERE to send a letter to your legislators – it only takes a few clicks! More information on the initiative can also be found on our Housing Budget Brief.

Additionally, to assist members in expanding their network of advocates during this important state budget cycle, LeadingAge New York has created a NEW Resident Assistant Advocacy Flyer, which can be printed (or emailed) and shared with affordable senior housing board members, colleagues, and residents. It educates the audience about the program concept, and asks them to take a moment to send an email to legislators. Please share the flyer with your staff, board members, and residents to expand our unified advocacy impact and get the Affordable Senior Housing Resident Assistant Program funded and established in the SFY 2024-25 NYS Budget!

 

Psychotropic Medications Bill Moves to Assembly Codes Committee

This week, a bill that LeadingAge New York opposes moved out of the Assembly Health Committee and into Assembly Codes Committee. Bill A.7467 (Paulin)/S.466 (Sepulveda) would require an enhanced level of informed consent before psychotropic medications can be prescribed for residents of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) or adult care facilities (ACFs). The legislation makes two major changes in an effort to reduce the use of psychotropic medications:

  1. Requires health care professionals to receive written consent from the resident or the resident’s "lawful representative" before ordering or increasing the order of any psychotropic medication; and
  2. Limits all orders for psychotropic medications to 14 days.

 

The legislation is problematic for SNFs and ACFs and aims to address issues that are largely already taken care of by federal SNF regulations. LeadingAge NY mobilized its membership to oppose this bill, and as a result, 192 letters in opposition were sent to legislators. Thank you for your advocacy!

Although the bill has already advanced to the Codes Committee, the attention you brought to this bill has contributed to revived conversations around this legislation, whether it is needed, and if it should be amended. The bill was debated in the Assembly Health Committee, with Asm. Health Ranker Jensen raising several concerns. In the dialogue, Asm. Health Chair Paulin said she is looking to bring in advocates to see if accommodations to this bill can be made. This is your advocacy in action!

Members are still able to vocalize your opposition to this bill, as it has not yet been passed in either house. CLICK HERE to send an email to your legislators in opposition!

Further, if your Assembly Member sits on the Assembly Codes Committee, we encourage you to call their Albany office to express your opposition and concerns. LeadingAge NY's memo of opposition here.

 

Digital Budget Advocacy Letters for All Service-Lines NOW AVAILABLE

As legislators hear from stakeholders from across sectors about countless State budget requests, it is critical that we keep the funding needs of long-term care and aging services providers top-of-mind. 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 2024-25 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!

After you send your letters, we strongly encourage members to share these links with colleagues, board members and volunteers. This is a simple and easy way to strengthen our unified message to the Legislature at this critical time.

Share Flyers with Your Network of Advocates!

To help drive traffic to these digital letters and expand our network of advocates, LeadingAge NY has created flyers that can be printed or shared electronically with your workforce, families, and community members. Flyers are linked below for member usage:

 

NOTE: Legislature Returns to the District for February Recess

The Legislature concluded their work for the week on Wed., Feb. 14th, and returned to their districts for the February Recess. As is reflected on the 2024 Legislative Session Calendar, they will return to Albany to resume legislative work on Feb. 26th.

While bill movement will be quiet next week, the Legislature is likely to continue some level of budget work over the break – hearing from stakeholders in the district, reflecting on top budget priorities and analyzing the Executive’s 30-day amendments.

The February Recess poses an opportunity for LeadingAge NY members to connect with your legislators in the district, as well as take your advocacy to social media. If you have not already shared our budget issue briefs with your legislators, now may be a good time call the district office to schedule a meeting, or ask to simply stop in and share physical copies of our materials and concerns.

If nothing else, we hope you will take advantage of all our digital grassroots advocacy resources over the next week, as NOW is a critical time to capture the attention of State Senators and Assembly Members.

 

Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org

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