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Legislative Bulletin: One-House Budget Proposals Expected Next Week

March 8, 2024

Continue to Bring Your Budget Advocacy to Social Media!

With just a few days until the Senate and Assembly put forth their one house budget proposals, this is the last chance for LeadingAge NY members to bring their advocacy to social media to influence the one-house budget bills! To make it easy for members to post on Facebook, LeadingAge NY has crafted the below messages which members can easily copy and paste into the platform.

Copy and paste any of the below messages into your Facebook and attach our recommended video/graphic. At this stage, messages target the leadership of the Senate and the Assembly. Please make sure that your post tags the legislators' social media ‘handles’ – the names should light up in blue when they are effectively tagged in the post. If you re-purpose for Twitter/X, please take care to update the legislators' tags (@).

There is an $810 million (State funds) Medicaid funding gap for nursing home care in NY. Inadequate Medicaid reimbursement directly impacts homes’ ability to recruit & retain staff – and directly impacts access to quality care for older adults. Meanwhile, Gov. Hochul is proposing MORE CUTS to nursing home Medicaid funding.
Older New Yorkers DESERVE BETTER! @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin – please INVEST $500 million in nursing home Medicaid rates, REFORM the Medicaid methodology, REJECT any proposed cuts to nursing homes, & #SupportOurSeniors! #nursinghomeSOS https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=aA_4wS4i-uE

  • Affordable Senior Housing – Post this graphic along with the below social media message:

Resident Assistants would offer on-site information, programming and socialization to low-income older adults living in senior housing apartments. This model has been proven to support healthy aging and SAVE State Medicaid dollars. @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, please establish and fund an Affordable Senior Housing Resident Assistant Program! An investment of $10 million/5 years would fund an RA for approx. 1,600 older adults! #SupportOurSeniors #NYHealthBudgetGap

  • Assisted Living Programs – Post this graphic along with the below social media message:

The Assisted Living Program (ALP) is the only AL available to low-income older adults & it has not had a standard Medicaid rate adjustment since 2007, limiting access. @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, please reject cuts to long-term care as proposed by the Governor, update the ALP rate to ensure the viability of our model, and allow ALPs to expand by 9 or fewer beds to improve access. #SupportOurSeniors #NYHealthBudgetGap

  • Adult Care Facilities – Post this graphic along with the below social media message:

Adult care facilities are already woefully underfunded for services they provide to low-income residents, yet the Executive Budget seeks to eliminate the Enriched Housing Subsidy and EQUAL. @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, please invest in quality of life for older adults and restore funding for the Enriched Housing Subsidy and EQUAL in this year’s budget! #SupportOurSeniors

  • Home and Community-Based Services – Post this graphic along with the below social media message:

The underfunding of home and community-based services is causing access to home care issues and a ripple effect of backups throughout the healthcare system @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, please address the needs of older adults & those with disabilities in this year’s budget! #NYHealthBudgetGap #SupportOurSeniors

  • Adult Day Health Care – Post this graphic along with the below social media message:

In 2020, all 116 adult day health care (ADHC) programs had to close due to the pandemic. Since then, only 55 have reopened, leaving a large gap in services and support for older adults and caregivers. @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, please increase Medicaid rates to ensure the reopening of ADHC statewide! #NYHealthBudgetGap #SupportOurSeniors

  • Managed Long-Term Care – Post this graphic along with the below social media message:

Support for LTC, #agingservices, & the system that cares for older adults is a reflection of our values. @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, NY must commit to supporting specialized provider-sponsored managed long term care plans that can care for people best as they age & needs change. #SupportOurSeniors

In addition to the above draft messages, LeadingAge NY has created a Social Media Toolkit, offering a suite of pre-written social media messages and graphics. After this week, these social media messages will be updated to target legislative leadership and respond to one-house budget proposals. We recommend members continue to implement the existing toolkit, and keep an eye out for new resources to come!

With the use of social media advocacy, we have the power to influence state funding decisions and secure INVESTMENTS in LTC, rather than CUTS.

 

ACTION ALERT: Authorize Medication Aides in the Nursing Home

While we are unsure if the Senate and Assembly will be including the authorization of nursing home medication aides in their one-house budget bills, the Executive’s proposal to create the role will remain a part of three-way budget negotiations through-out March. This means that we need to maintain our vocal support for the Governor’s proposal and urge the Legislature to include the measure in the final budget agreement for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024-25.

Please urge state legislators to include the authorization of nursing home Certified Medication Aides (CMAs) in this year’s budget! Please take a few minutes to utilize these Action Items TODAY!

  1. SEND AN EMAIL TO YOUR LEGISALTORS: Click here to send an email to your State Senator and Assembly Member, it only takes a few clicks!
  2. SHARE the digital advocacy letter with your board members and colleagues to amplify our advocacy! (https://www.leadingageny.org/advocacy/advocacy-action-items/authorize-nursing-home-medication-aides-in-this-years-budget/)
  3. PRINT and SHARE this flyer to help drive more traffic to our digital advocacy letter! Please note, the letter is written from the general perspective of “someone who works in a nursing home”.
  4. POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
    1. Copy and Paste this message into your social media platforms, and TAG YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS!

It’s time for New York to authorize the training and employment of Certified Medication Aides (CMAs) in nursing homes! 38 states already authorize the role, and it is a no-cost measure to help address staffing shortages in nursing homes. @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @Carl E. Heastie. @Hon. Gustavo Rivera and @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, please authorize medication aides in nursing homes to expand our direct care professional career ladder! #NursingHomeSOS

    1. Download and save this photo to add to your social media post.

Thank you for your advocacy at this critical time.

 

Role of the Nurse Legislation Added to Senate Health Agenda

LeadingAge NY priority legislation, the “Role of the Nurse” in adult care facilities (ACF) A.5670 (Solages)/S.5471 (Rivera) has been added to the Senate Health Agenda for Tues., March 12th. The bill would allow nurses that are employed by an ACF or assisted living facility to provide temporary but necessary nursing services to their residents. This legislation makes it clear that residents who need a higher level of care will still indeed get a higher level of care if they truly need it. At the same time, it allows for a community to reserve emergency response for those instances where the resident truly needs to go to the emergency room, or when there is an emergency in the larger community. This bill provides a common sense and person-centered approach to ACF and assisted living services, which is also consistent with federal and state policy.

CLICK HERE to send a digital advocacy letter to state legislators, urging them to support the Role of the Nurse in ACF legislation!

 

Join Us for LeadingAge Leadership Summit and Lobby Day!

LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to join us in Washington DC from April 15th-17th for LeadingAge National’s  2024 Leadership Summit and Lobby Day! Importantly, the national Lobby Day effort will be held on the final day of the summit, on April 17th, and is your chance to meet face to face with members of Congress and advocate for improved federal funding and policies to support aging services for older adults and our workforce.

You do not need to be a lobbyist or policy wonk to be an advocacy champion. Your on-the-ground expertise is our most valuable asset in advocacy. Together, we can amplify our voice to raise awareness about the most critical issues impacting aging services providers, our employees, and the older adults and families we serve. Click here to register for the Leadership Summit and Lobby Day!

 

Legislature and Executive Reach Consensus on Revenue

Last week, the 2024 Economic Revenue Consensus Forecasting Conference met to discuss the projected revenue forecast for the SFY 2024-25. The revenue consensus is a critical part of the budget process, as it informs the amount of funding the State may allocate in the upcoming fiscal year. While the revenue estimates from all parties for FY 2024 and projections for FY 2025 exhibited significant variance, participants reached consensus on a two-year revenue that is $1.35 billion above the Executive Budget’s earlier estimate. This is positive, as it means that the Legislature will have additional funds to allocate toward their one-house budget priorities. However, we have heard that the budget requests from across sectors significantly exceed $1.3 billion. For example, LeadingAge NY’s nursing home budget request alone would require at least $500 million of that additional $1.3 billion revenue.

State legislators will spend hours over the weekend finalizing their one-house budget proposals in response to Governor Hochul’s Budget Proposal. They will decide on their top priorities and decide on whether some New Yorkers will see a tax increase. The Governor’s budget cuts to Medicaid and school districts are large due to revenue forecasts and the need to conserve money this year, but legislators seem to agree that tax reforms are a better alternative to build revenue to fund necessary programs.

 

One-House Budgets Expected Next Week – Send Budget Advocacy Letters TODAY!

LeadingAge New York anticipates the release of the one-house budget proposals in the coming days. As a reminder, the one-house budgets modify the Executive Budget Proposals to reflect each house’s funding priorities. Once both the Senate and the Assembly release their proposals, three-way budget negotiations between the Governor and the two houses will commence to reach a final agreement on the Final 2024-25 budget by April 1st.

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.  Our window of opportunity to urge for better funding of long-term care is closing. Please send a message to your legislators TODAY!

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:

 

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

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