Legislative Bulletin: It's Time to Mobilize! Send Digital Letters to Lawmakers Today
February 13, 2026
ACTION ALERT: Send Digital Letters to Lawmakers Today!
Our 2026 advocacy day was just last week and was a huge success thanks to the participation of our membership. Now is a critical time to build upon our advocacy momentum and maintain an open line of communication with state legislative offices and ensure they understand the budget requests most important to you and their constituents.
It is up to us to 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 2026-27 budget discussions.
Please use the links below to send messages to your legislators and the governor today!
Each letter takes only a minute to send. Simply enter your information to automatically send an email to the Governor and your State Senator and Assembly Member! There will be more grassroots resources to come, but for now, please help us flood the email inboxes of your state legislators!
- Nursing Home Budget Letter – More versions on the way!
- Resident Assistant in Affordable Senior Housing Budget Letter
- Adult Care Facility/Assisted Living Budget Letter
- Home and Community-Based Services Budget Letter
- Adult Day Health Care Budget Letter
- Managed Long-Term Care Budget Letter – Coming soon!
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.
In addition, LeadingAge New York’s Advocacy Day website will remain active over the coming weeks. We encourage members to continue to share our Budget Issue Briefs with legislative offices, and, if you haven’t already watched the recording of our Budget & Advocacy Day Prep Call, the messaging and key budget requests shared on that call remain relevant.
Thank you for your budget advocacy and for staying engaged with us throughout this process!
Please reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org with any questions.
LeadingAge New York Testifies at Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Health
On Tuesday afternoon, LeadingAge NY CEO Sebrina Barrett testified at the Joint Legislative Budget Hearing on Health, calling for increased investment in long-term care and aging services.
In her testimony, Barrett highlighted the accelerating closures of nursing homes and other LTC providers, in the context of a growing population of older adults and the rising demand for LTC services. Barrett stated early in her comments, “our nursing homes are in a closure crisis – and we are losing the good ones”.
Barrett’s testimony emphasized that access to quality long-term care services is deteriorating as the rate of closures is accelerating, and that the rapid rate of closures has real-world impacts on families, as well as on hospitals and emergency services. As indicated in her testimony, the crisis expands beyond just nursing homes, “adult care facilities continue to close, and half of the adult day health care programs have yet to re-open after COVID.”
Pointing to NY's outdated Medicaid reimbursement, Barrett urged legislators that half of the Executive’s proposed $1.5 billion in new funding for hospitals and nursing homes must be dedicated to nursing homes ($750 million). She also urged that the full 15% cut to nursing home capital reimbursement be restored.
These and all other LeadingAge NY’s priority budget requests are highlighted in greater detail in LeadingAge NY’s written budget testimony, available here.
Legislators attending the hearing expressed interest in LTC issues, including nursing home funding, access to assisted living options, dementia care, aging in place, and LTC workforce issues. Assembly Health Chair Amy Paulin asked questions about the frozen acuity adjustments for nursing home providers, Assembly Health Ranker Josh Jensen raised several questions about nursing home reimbursement and the Executive Budget’s allocations, Assembly Member Jen Lunsford asked about the assisted living options available in the state, and Senator Dan Stec brought up nursing home Medicaid funding gaps and the lack of access to assisted living in the North Country. LeadingAge NY is following up with legislative committee members who participated in today’s hearing to help address any questions that arose and ensure all are aware of our membership’s most high-priority budget requests.
LeadingAge NY’s written budget testimony is available here. Members can watch a recording of the entire health budget hearing here. A consolidated clip of LeadingAge New York’s in-person testimony & questions is available here.
Register Today for Resident Assistance in Affordable Senior Housing Advocacy Day!
Please join us and our partners at LiveOn NY for a Resident Assistance Advocacy Day at the NYS Capitol in Albany on Feb. 25th. Your support will be critical to keep this proposal top-of-mind for key legislators as they prepare to issue their One-House Budget proposals.
During this targeted advocacy day, we will be urging State legislators to support the creation of and investment in an Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program, which would allow more affordable senior housing properties to offer “Resident Assistance” – similar to a HUD Service Coordinator or SHASAM social worker – to help their residents age safely in place.
LeadingAge NY and its advocacy partners, including LiveOn NY, are asking for $10M over five years (just $2M in SFY27) to support this program, but we need the Governor, Senate, and Assembly to agree to make it a reality.
Please register now to join us and lend your voice to the need for Resident Assistance in NYS!
When: Feb. 25th, 2026
Where: The NYS Capitol, Albany, NY
How: Click Here to Register for the Resident Assistance Advocacy Day!
Please note, LeadingAge NY and LiveOn NY will:
- schedule meetings with key legislators and staff;
- join members in legislative meetings;
- provide legislative materials and “handouts” for legislators; and
- assist in any necessary follow-up from meetings.
More details, including a meeting schedule, are forthcoming.
In addition to joining us for this Feb. 25th Resident Assistance Advocacy Day, LeadingAge NY housing members are strongly encouraged to use this click-to-send digital action letter to contact the Governor & state legislators in support of the Resident Assistance program today.
Please reach out to Annalyse K. Denio (akomoroskedenio@leadingageny.org) with any questions.
Legislators Return to Districts for February Recess
The Legislature completed their work for the week on Wed., Feb. 11th, and retired to their districts for the February Legislative Recess. The Legislature will return to Albany to resume legislative work on Mon. Feb. 23rd, according to the 2026 Legislative Session Calendar.
While bill movement will be quiet next week, legislators and staff will continue their work on the state budget over the break – hearing from stakeholders in the district, reflecting on top budget priorities and analyzing the Executive’s 30-day amendments, should they be released by Feb. 19th.
The February Recess poses an opportunity for LeadingAge NY members to connect with your legislators in the district. If you have not already shared these budget issue briefs with your state legislators, now may be a good time to call the district office to schedule a meeting, or ask to stop in and share physical copies of your budget materials. You could highlight the budget requests in the materials that are most meaningful to you.
We also encourage members to take advantage of our updated digital grassroots advocacy resources over the next week. Now is a critical time to remain in contact with your State Senators and Assembly Members, urging them to protect older adults and fund long-term care in the SFY 2027 budget.
LeadingAge New York in the News
A key aspect of LeadingAge New York’s advocacy on behalf of our membership is to bring our issues and key state budget solutions to the press. Over the last two weeks, LeadingAge New York has been featured in news pieces with City & State, Crain’s, and POLITICO, helping to elevate the urgent needs of long‑term care providers statewide.
Crain’s New York Business highlighted the sector’s push for half of the proposed $1.5 billion Medicaid boost, noting widespread financial distress and thousands of lost beds due to chronic underfunding. Similarly, POLITICO PRO reported on LeadingAge New York’s call for an equal share of the Executive’s proposed investments in hospitals and nursing homes, emphasizing that without adequate reimbursement, closures, staffing challenges, and reduced access will continue to ripple across the entire health system.
In City & State, a joint Q&A with LeadingAge New York President Sebrina Barrett and NYSHFA President Stephen Hanse offered a deeper look at an industry at a breaking point—marked by outdated Medicaid rates, rising workforce shortages, and mounting regulatory pressures amid a rapidly aging population. Their conversation underscored both the mission‑driven commitment of nonprofit providers and the critical need for policymakers to act now to preserve access to high‑quality long‑term care for older New Yorkers.
LeadingAge New York will continue to work with our members to tell your stories and urge the State to take meaningful action to address the underfunding of LTC.
Next Public Affairs Council Meeting Scheduled for Feb. 19th
After a short hiatus, LeadingAge NY is resuming our regularly scheduled Public Affairs Council meetings! Our February Public Affairs Council meeting will be held on Thurs., Feb. 19th at 3 p.m. During this month’s meeting, the Council will review the latest budget advocacy resources and social media/press activities. We have a lot to share with you about the work we have been doing in the press, and how we can work together to garner more public attention to our issues.
If you have not already done so, you can sign up for the Public Affairs Council here! All Public Affairs Council meetings are held over Zoom. Please reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org with any questions about the Council or PR/advocacy resources.
SFY 2026-27 Executive Budget Resources from LeadingAge New York
- Comprehensive Executive Budget Summary
- Budget Issue Briefs - please continue to share these with legislative offices.
- Budget Advocacy Prep Call
- Updated Digital Advocacy Letters
Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org