Legislative Bulletin: New York State Legislature Returns to Albany for 2024 Session

January 5, 2024

New York State Legislature Returns to Albany for 2024 Session

The New York State Legislature returned to Albany on Wednesday, Jan. 3^rd for their first day of the 2024 Legislative Session. The first day of the 2024 session was accompanied by the shuffling of hundreds of existing bills to their appropriate committees and the introduction of hundreds of new pieces of legislation.

While the first day of session was short and sweet, the Legislature is expected to begin its work in earnest next week with several Senate and Assembly committee meetings and agendas already scheduled. As always, LeadingAge NY will be tracking all legislative news and activities very closely, and will urge members to engage with us in advocacy whenever necessary.

And of course, always keep an eye out for these Legislative Bulletins, which will come to you every Friday for the duration of this year’s session.

REGISTER NOW for 2024 In-Person Advocacy Day!

With the New York State Legislature back in session, and the anticipated release of the 2024-25 Executive Budget Proposal on Jan. 16^th, it is critical that we have as many members as possible join us in Albany for our 2024 Advocacy Day! During our in-person advocacy day, we will be urging State legislators to support and appropriately fund the entire continuum of long-term care/aging services providers; including nursing homes, assisted living/adult care facilities, home care agencies, senior housing, adult day health care, managed long-term care and more!

WHEN: Jan. 30, 2024

WHERE: The Empire State Plaza Convention Center (279 Madison Ave., Albany, NY 12242)

HOW:

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER for LeadingAge NY's 2024 Advocacy Day!
Once you are registered for our coordinated budget advocacy efforts, CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR AND ASSEMBLY MEMBER's Albany offices to request an in-person meeting on Tues., Jan. 30^th. To make this as easy as possible, LeadingAge NY has created this Legislative Scheduling Guide to assist you in scheduling your meetings.
Once your meetings are scheduled, please send your meeting details to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org. This is critical to enhancing our organization, collaboration, and overall advocacy impact.

Please note that we recommend members schedule their own legislative meetings, as it often results in a timelier response and the legislator themselves joining the meeting. LeadingAge NY is also happy to assist you in scheduling your meetings, however, if you would like this level of support and assistance, it is critical that you register AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

During our Advocacy Day, LeadingAge NY will:

Provide breakfast & lunch;
be available to join you for your legislative meetings;
provide legislative materials and “handouts” for legislators;
assist in any necessary follow-up from meetings;
provide a meeting room, directions, parking information, logistical support and more!

Finally, to ensure that members are familiar with what is in the SFY 2024-25 Executive Budget Proposal (once released) and all details of our 2024 Advocacy Day, LeadingAge NY will be hosting a Budget and Advocacy Day Prep Call on Fri., Jan. 26^th at 11 a.m.

More information on our 2024 Advocacy Day can be found here. Please reach out to Sarah Daly (sdaly@leadingageny.org) with any questions.

ACTION ALERT: Tag the Governor in a Budget Social Media Message!

As we await the release of the Executive Budget Proposal on January 16^th, it is critical that we work together to capture the attention of the Governor and urge for the reform of nursing home Medicaid rates, and better support and funding for the entire long-term care continuum.

We strongly encourage members to use these social media tools and resources as much as possible over the next 10 days, tagging the Governor and/or urging your following to join us in our advocacy! The social media toolkit provides tips and suggestions for how we recommend members use the materials, and the Family Advocacy Flyer can easily be shared with families via email or printed to have available in lobby areas. In addition, LeadingAge NY recently created this General Constituent Advocacy Flyer that members may opt to promote on social media to expand our network of advocates.

If you have questions or challenges in implementing these resources, please do not hesitate to reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org.

Further, LeadingAge NY will be hosting our January Public Affairs Council meeting on Thurs., Jan. 11^th. The Public Affairs Council’s goal and intention is to allow for better communication and collaboration among LeadingAge NY and our membership as we work together to educate the public and lawmakers about the importance and value of quality, mission-driven long term care and aging services. If you have not already signed up to be a part of our Public Affairs Council, any LeadingAge NY member staff person is welcome to join us by signing up here!

Need to Know: The New York State Budget Process

As we celebrate the welcoming of a new year, fresh starts, and the beginning of a new legislative session, it is important that we also note that next week we will find ourselves at the very beginning of the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024-25 Budget cycle. Since we may have some new readers of our LeadingAge New York Legislative Bulletin, we wanted to share some reminders about the state budget process and some important timeframes to be aware of.

The State budget cycle will officially kick off next week, with the Governor’s State of the State address set for Jan. 9^th at 1 p.m. During this address, the Governor will highlight some of the key priorities we can expect to be included in the SFY 2024-25 Executive Budget Proposal. While this address will give us a sense of what may be in the Executive Budget, much will remain uncertain until we see the proposed Executive Budget legislation, which is due to be released no later than Jan. 16^th.

From the time that we see budget bills, through February and early March, stakeholders and members of the Legislature will review the Executive’s proposal and begin to recommend changes and amendments to the Governor and legislative leaders. In mid-March, both the Senate and Assembly will put forth their one-house budget proposals, amending the Executive’s proposal to reflect what each house of the Legislature believes should be included in the Final Budget.

Following the completion of the one-house budget process, “three-way negotiations” will begin between the Executive, the Senate, and the Assembly. These negotiations typically take place in the final weeks of March, with the goal of coming to a final budget agreement before April 1, 2024. It is not unheard of for budget negotiations to extend beyond the due date of April 1^st. In fact, last year the 2023-24 final budget was not completely approved and passed until April 10, 2023.

While this may be a lot of information for members to consider all at once, please be assured that LeadingAge NY will be here to guide you and keep you apprised every step of the way. But your involvement and advocacy in this process is absolutely critical.

We thank you in advance for staying engaged with us in all 2024 advocacy activities! Your voice is integral to any success we will have during this year’s state budget cycle.

Governor Unveils Top Proposals in Advance of State of the State Address on Jan. 9^th

The Governor’s annual State of the State address is scheduled to take place on Jan. 9^th at 1 p.m. in the Assembly Chamber of the New York State Capitol. The State of the State will be streamed on the Governor’s website, and will likely be broadcast by some regional and Albany-based news outlets.

While advocates and stakeholders of every industry await the unveiling of the final Executive Budget Proposal and comprehensive State of the State, the Governor this week began unveiling some of her top proposals including:

LeadingAge New York will tune in to the State of the State address next week, and will report to members any major announcements relevant to the long-term care and aging services sector. Further, a review of the State of the State will also be included in next week’s Legislative Bulletin on Jan. 12^th.

LeadingAge NY Secures Critical Amendments to New Emergency Evacuation Planning Law

In late December, Governor Hochul signed legislation relating to emergency evacuation planning requirements for individuals with disabilities living in high-rise buildings. Fortunately, the Governor’s approval of the bill was accompanied by critical amendments secured by LeadingAge NY to protect the privacy and safety of older adult residents of these properties, and to exclude providers already subject to competing evacuation requirements.

The bill as originally written and passed by the Legislature in 2023 would have required high-rise property owners – or owners of properties of about seven stories or more – to develop emergency evacuation plans for residents with disabilities. As part of the plan, owners would have been required to take specific steps such as creating clearly identifiable and accessible “areas of rescue assistance” throughout the building and maintaining, posting, and sharing on request a list of individuals who would need help in the event of an emergency.

In analysis of the bill, LeadingAge NY identified concerns about the potential impact on high-rise senior housing providers who have already established specialized evacuation plans under the advisement of local emergency response teams. We also raised concerns regarding resident privacy, given the bill’s public posting requirement. Lastly, the bill as originally written did nothing to exclude nursing home, adult care facility (ACF), and assisted living providers who are already subject to extensive evacuation plan and emergency preparedness requirements, creating duplicative and potentially conflicting requirements.

Thanks to our advocacy, the final law and it’s corresponding chapter amendments will allow specialized evacuation plans that have been developed by senior housing providers and their local emergency response teams to satisfy planning mandates; exempt high-rise nursing home, ACF, and assisted living providers from duplicative requirements; and limit sharing of residents’ personally identifiable information.

The law is expected to take effect Jan. 1, 2025. LeadingAge NY will continue to weigh in and monitor the implementation of this new law and its amendments.

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