Legislative Bulletin: Join Us in Albany Next Week for a Final Budget Advocacy Push!
March 14, 2025
LeadingAge NY One-House Budget Summary & Budget Update
Late Monday night, the Assembly and the Senate printed their one-house budget bills. These bills represent their respective opening positions in budget negotiations with the Executive. In addition to introducing bills, each house released a summary of their budget proposals – a detailed Senate resolution and an “Overview of the Assembly Budget Proposal.”
LeadingAge NY is pleased to report that both houses added funds to respond to key priorities of LeadingAge NY members, although not necessarily at the level we had requested. A high-level summary of each house’s positions on issues of interest to LeadingAge NY members and the people you serve is available here.
Over the next few weeks, the Governor and the Legislature will negotiate to reconcile the differences in their respective budget proposals, aiming to reach a final agreement for the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025-26 budget by April 1, 2025. With a little over two weeks remaining of this year’s State budget work, LeadingAge NY urges all members to continue your advocacy for our shared budget priorities. It is critical that LeadingAge NY, our members, and our network of advocates continue to push for the investments and restorations you need, and the funding that the people you serve deserve.
There are several opportunities and ways for members to engage in budget advocacy, all of which are reflected in this newsletter, below. Thank you in advance for your advocacy in these final weeks of state budget work! If you have any questions about the one-house proposals, please feel free to contact the Policy Team.
LAST CHANCE: Join Us in Albany Next Week for a Final Budget Advocacy Push!
This is a reminder that LeadingAge New York and our members are holding an additional advocacy effort in Albany on Tues. March 18! You can click here to sign up to join us! We are organizing this effort to take place during this final stage of state budget negotiations, when it is most important for us to keep the pressure on state legislators who are supportive of our budget requests, but may be hearing from other advocates on competing issues. With a finite amount of resources that can be allocated in the state budget, it is critical that we take this opportunity to thank state legislators for their support and urge them to prioritize the needs of older adults and vulnerable individuals in this year’s Final State Budget!
If you sign up today, LeadingAge NY will be able to reach out to your state legislative offices to schedule meetings on your behalf – but time is of the essence! In addition, this advocacy day differs from the effort we held in February. Next week, participants will have the opportunity to connect with a broader swathe of legislators who work on health, aging and state finance-related issues. Members will have the opportunity to connect with legislators who have not yet heard directly from our nonprofit LTC providers. It is important that as many legislators as possible hear directly from our members prior to the state budget being finalized on April 1.
Members who sign up will receive an email on Monday afternoon with additional details about the day, along with a meeting schedule. But for now, members who plan to participate are simply encouraged to sign-up, and show-up to the NYS Capitol building in Albany at approx. 9 a.m. on March 18!
Thank you for all your efforts to ensure older adults and the people we serve have access to the quality services they need and deserve. Please reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org if you have any questions.
NEW: State Budget Social Media Toolkit Now Available!
Now that one-house budget proposals have been released, LeadingAge NY members and our network of advocates have only a few short weeks left to advocate for our top budget priorities! A final state budget is due April 1, 2025, and we must make as much noise as possible now to ensure the final budget prioritizes the needs of older adults and individuals living with medically complex conditions!
Social media is a great way to keep the pressure on state legislators! We strongly encourage members to use the below social media toolkit as much as possible in the coming weeks, tagging state legislators and/or urging your following to join us in our advocacy! We recommend members post about the state budget at least 1-2 times each week until the State reaches a final state budget agreement.
The social media toolkit below provides pre-written social media posts and graphics, along with tips and suggestions for how we recommend members use the materials to ensure our message reaches the right audience. This year, the toolkit also provides a list of all the amazing videos that our members created earlier this year. If all of our members join us in social media advocacy, and engage community stakeholders in our efforts, we have the power to influence State budget decisions!
Please take a moment to post on personal/professional social media platforms TODAY!
- Social media graphics
- Nursing home social media videos
- The toolkit provides pre-written social media posts, along with graphics that we recommend accompany your message.
Please reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org with any questions.
ACTION ALERT: Email State Legislators, Asking Them to Prioritize Older Adults in Final Budget!
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 remaining weeks of state fiscal year 2025-26 budget negotiations.
Each letter takes only a minute or two to send. Simply enter your information to automatically send an email to your State Senator, your Assembly Member and the Governor! 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.
Please use the links below to send emails to your legislators and the Governor TODAY!
- Nursing Home Budget Letters – several letters available for family members, staff, residents, etc.
- Adult Care Facilities/Assisted Living Budget Letter
- Home & Community-Based Services Budget Letter
- Managed Long-Term Care Budget Letter
- Adult Day Health Care Budget Letter
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:
- Workforce Advocacy Flyer – please share with staff teams
- Family Advocacy Flyer – please share with families
- General Constituent Advocacy Flyer - please share with volunteers/community members
Thank you for your budget advocacy and for staying engaged with us throughout this process!
Federal Budget Reconciliation Process Poses Threat to Medicaid Funding
On Feb. 25th, the U.S. House of Representatives approved its fiscal year 2025 budget resolution, calling for $1.5-$2 trillion in spending reductions over 10 years in order to pay for $4-$4.5 trillion in tax cuts. The U.S. Senate passed a more limited budget resolution on Feb. 21st that would increase spending by approximately $500 billion to achieve the Trump administration's mass deportation and border control objectives, while offsetting that spending through cuts to federal programs (except for Social Security and Medicare). With budget resolutions approved in both houses, Congress can proceed to negotiate a single budget resolution that will be the basis for an omnibus reconciliation act.
Of grave concern to long-term care providers and the people they serve is that the savings required by the House resolution cannot be achieved without deep cuts to Medicaid. In addition to Medicaid cuts, lawmakers are considering the elimination of the tax exemption of municipal bonds that are often used to finance capital improvements in non-profit health care facilities and affordable senior housing. The repeal of the federal nursing home minimum staffing rule is also under consideration as a source of savings.
LeadingAge National and LeadingAge NY, along with members, have been meeting with our representatives in Congress to urge them to protect Medicaid and other programs affecting older adults. LeadingAge National has also sent letters to key congressional committees, urging them to do right by older adults on critical issues regarding Medicaid, tax-exempt municipal bonds, issues impacting non-profits, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) minimum staffing rule, and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs). Read the letters here. Updated serial posts on the federal budget process are available from LeadingAge National here.
Here's what you can do!
While the Federal government is interested in reducing spending, Medicaid cuts and the elimination of funding mechanisms that support older adults must not be part of the Federal spending plan!
All LeadingAge members are strongly encouraged to contact Congressional offices to advocate against cuts/changes to Medicaid! They need to know how important Medicaid is to your organization and the people you serve.
Talking Points: LeadingAge National has created two sets of talking points for members to use in talking to Members of Congress about the potential cuts to Medicaid in the reconciliation process.
- One set of talking points outlines the types of proposals being considered and provides general talking points on why they are harmful.
- The second set focuses more on aging services providers as well as the impacts on states.
Digital Advocacy Tools: There are several different letters that members can send to their Members of Congress with just a few clicks. Click here to write to your members of Congress TODAY!
Finally, please Join us in D.C. for LeadingAge National Lobby Effort! LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to join us in Washington D.C. from April 7 – 9 for LeadingAge National’s 2025 Leadership Summit and Lobby Day! The Summit convenes thought leaders from across the aging services sector for mission-critical conversations. The event provides valuable networking and educational opportunities, but most importantly, the final day of the summit (April 9) will offer attendees the chance to join a coordinated lobbying effort on Capitol Hill. During the National Lobby Day, LeadingAge members will meet face-to-face with members of Congress to advocate against potential cuts to Medicaid and stress the need for enhanced federal funding and policies supporting long-term care and aging services for older adults. Click here to register for the Leadership Summit and/or Lobby Day!
Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org