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Legislative Bulletin: NYS Legislature Resumes Work on Bills & State Budget

April 24, 2026

 

State Legislature Resumes Legislative Work Amidst Ongoing Budget Negotiations

This week, the Legislature passed two more budget extenders which continue to fund the State at State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025-26 levels and carry the State’s budget work through Mon., April 27th. The extender passed on Wednesday was the sixth of its kind.

Policy issues remain the chief roadblock on the path to the final budget, with some lawmakers expressing frustration with the slow progress.

Meanwhile, the Legislature returned from their two-week spring recess on Mon., April 20th, holding a robust schedule of committee meetings and advancing several pieces of legislation. The pace of bill movement and legislative activity is anticipated to accelerate quickly now. The State Legislative Session is scheduled to conclude on June 4th, and many legislators will be eager to return to their districts to campaign for their elections, including the primaries scheduled for June 23rd.

LeadingAge NY is continuing to urge lawmakers to keep long-term care (LTC) and aging services at the forefront of state budget discussions, and now we need to ensure that we are also advocating in support of our priority legislation, and against any problematic or worrisome bills that are emerging.

Below, members will find several opportunities to engage in state budget and legislative advocacy, as well as hear about the advocacy work being done with LeadingAge National. We thank members in advance for continuing to stand with us as we fight for the funding and policy actions that will best support our membership and our shared priorities.

 

Bills to Watch for Remainder of State Legislative Session

There are six scheduled weeks remaining of the 2026 State Legislative Session. With many LTC-related issues front-of-mind for legislators, and with many new pieces of legislation emerging this year, we ask members to please continue to advocate with us throughout the remainder of this Legislative Session!

Below are digital advocacy campaigns for many of LeadingAge NY’s top legislative priorities. We are working diligently behind the scenes, sharing bill memos and communicating with offices, urging for the support and opposition of all priority bills. However, we need member advocacy to ensure that your individual legislators know that these are constituent issues as well.

Please use the links below to email your legislators on priority bills today! Each link will bring you to a webpage where you can learn about the issue, read our legislative memo, and enter your information to send an email to legislators and the Governor. All of the below action items – especially for the bills we oppose – are relevant and important to send right now. Please use these easy email links today:

Thank you in advance for sticking with us for the remainder of the 2026 Legislative Session. We will continue to keep you apprised of the latest legislative action items via these Friday Legislative Bulletins and with urgent updates as needed.

 

ACTION ALERT: Amplify News Stories and State Budget Messages on Social Media!

At this stage of the state budget process, much of the decision-making is with Governor Hochul and the leadership of the Senate and Assembly. A key strategy to capture the attention of policymakers during this final stretch of state budget advocacy is to leverage the power of social media. Please join us in a social media campaign, urging the State to “Stop the Crisis and Fully Fund LTC!”

To participate in this social media campaign, please follow the simple steps outlined on our website here. LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to include residents and families in advocacy and post your photos along with our suggested captions on social media over the coming days and weeks. We encourage members to post on Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other social media platforms.

In addition to participating in the “Fully Fund LTC” social media campaign, LeadingAge NY members are strongly encouraged to like and share the recent news articles posted by LeadingAge NY. Links to LeadingAge NY social media posts are available below.

Please help amplify these stories – like and share on social media!

  1. Newsday, Nursing Homes Fight for Adequate State Funding, featuring Gurwin Healthcare System:
  2. Times Union, Nursing Home Medicaid Funding, Op-Ed:
  3. NY1, Support funding for Resident Assistance Program, featuring Selfhelp Community Services:
  4. Rochester Business Journal, Support Certified Medication Aides in Nursing Homes, featuring St. Ann’s Community:

If you would like to tag the Governor and legislative leaders in the reposting of an article, their Facebook handles are available here: @Governor Kathy Hochul, @Andrea Stewart-Cousins, @NYSAssemblyMajority Speaker @Carl E. Heastie, @Hon. Gustavo Rivera, @Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin, @State Senator Liz Krueger

#ProtectOlderAdults #FundLongTermCare

Members are strongly encouraged to share any of our recent news articles directly with state legislative offices to assist us in maintaining the attention of state decision-makers. Sharing news articles directly with your legislative contacts and amplifying news stories on personal and professional social media platforms – while tagging state legislators – can be a meaningful way to bring our message to the right audience.

 

Continue to Send Budget Letters and Engage Others in Advocacy

With NYS budget work extended, we have extra time to advocate for the inclusion of LeadingAge NY’s top priorities in the final SFY 2026-27 budget. It is crucial that we maintain the urgency and frequency of our message to ensure that these priorities do not fall off the negotiating table.

Please continue to push for the investments and restorations that LTC providers need, and the funding that the people you serve deserve.

Please use the links below to send emails to elected officials. It only takes a few minutes.

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

In addition, nursing home members can share this Advocacy Flyer with family members to help expand our advocacy reach and remind legislators of the families and residents who are impacted by inadequate Medicaid funding. Affordable senior housing members can share this Advocacy Flyer with residents, volunteers, and other providers to help advocate for the Senate one-house budget proposal which would fund and establish the Resident Assistance in Affordable Senior Housing Program.

 

2026 National Lobby Day Recap and Action Items

On Wed., April 22nd, LeadingAge National held its in-person advocacy effort in Washington, DC. As part of the national effort, LeadingAge NY and a group of NY member professionals and advocates met with 11 congressional offices in just one day. Key issues covered in the meetings were the lack of adequate funding, barriers to accessing care, need for more affordable senior housing, workforce development and pipelines for the LTC workforce, and the certified nurse aide training lockout. We had good discussions and made important connections that will help further our collective advocacy priorities.

If you were not able to attend the Leadership Summit and Lobby Day this year, we hope you’ll consider joining us next year. You can easily take action on several of the issues mentioned above via LeadingAge National’s advocacy action alert website. You can also learn more about the issues that LeadingAge National is advocating on by reviewing the 2026 Lobby Day materials, located under “Lobby Day 2026.”

Thank you again to the LeadingAge NY members and allies who committed their day to advocating with us on Capitol Hill. Your work and stories are inspiring, and will help drive the change and funding actions we hope to see in Washington, DC!

 

SFY 2026-27 State Budget Advocacy Resources from LeadingAge NY

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

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