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Legislative Bulletin: One-House Budget Proposals Expected Next Week

March 6, 2026

 

One-House Budget Proposals Expected Next Week – There’s Still Time to Advocate!

The Assembly and Senate one-house budget proposals are expected to be released on or shortly after Monday, March 9th. These proposals will amend the Executive Budget bills to reflect each house’s budget priorities and will serve as the foundation for three-way budget negotiations between the Executive, the Assembly and the Senate, with the final budget agreement for State Fiscal Year 2026-27 due April 1st.

Ensuring our budget requests are addressed in either the Senate or Assembly one-house proposal is critical to our overall budget success. As state legislators finalize which budget proposals will and will not be included in the one-houses, it is critical that we keep the funding needs of long-term care and aging services providers top-of-mind for them.

This weekend is a crucial, last opportunity to send letters to policymakers in advance of one-houses. Please use the links below to send messages to your legislators and the Governor this weekend!

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.

Thank you for your budget advocacy and for staying engaged with us throughout this process!

 

 

ACTION ALERT: Bring Your Advocacy to Social Media this Weekend!

This week, an hour-long NPR news segment aired in the Buffalo region spotlighting the nursing home funding crisis in New York State. The segment provides a powerful look at the challenges facing nursing home providers and the older adults they serve, as well as the ripple effects felt throughout communities when nursing homes go underfunded.

We encourage members to like and share the social media posts below to help amplify this critical message. The more visibility we can generate, the stronger our collective voice heading into the one-house budget proposals next week!

Please like and share these social media posts to capture the attention of policymakers!

When you share our social media posts, please consider tagging your State Senator and Assembly Member in your post so they see it! In addition, members are encouraged to add the caption and call to action suggested below, to encourage viewers to learn about the issue and take action.

 

Add this content to your post when you share the above links! Ensure that the names of the Governor and Legislators are blue, so they are tagged in the post. Caption:

New York’s nursing homes are in crisis — @GovKathyHochul, @Andrea Stewart-Cousins and @Carl E. Heastie, we need you to act. Hear from the providers and families on the front lines in this important NPR segment on the nursing home funding crisis. It’s time to #FullyFundNursingHomes and ensure our loved ones get the care they deserve.

Eleven nursing homes have announced closure since 2024. The rate of closures is accelerating and impacts access to care for all New Yorkers, including individuals seeking hospital care. Nursing homes need $750 million in new Medicaid funding in SFY 2027. Learn more and take action here: http://bit.ly/4uuqRqy

#ProtectOlderAdults #FundLongTermCare

 

LeadingAge New York in the News

 

LeadingAge New York continued its strong press and media presence this week, keeping the nursing home funding crisis front and center as the state budget process moves into its critical final phase. Here are some highlights:

Binghamton Press Conference: Earlier today, Good Shepherd Communities, LeadingAge New York, Assemblywoman Lupardo and Senator Webb held a press conference to call for the State Budget to prioritize funding for New York’s nursing homes. The media coverage speaks for itself, tune in here:

NPR Coverage (Buffalo): On Wednesday morning, the Buffalo-area NPR news segment, What’s Next?, aired an hour-long, in-depth interview with Sebrina Barrett of LeadingAge New York, Hadley Horrigan of Catholic Health, and Lisa Haglund of Heritage Ministries. The piece covered the nursing home funding crisis in New York State and explored the challenges providers face amid chronic Medicaid underfunding and the impact on residents and communities. Listen here!

Rochester Press Conference: As reported in last week’s bulletin, The Jewish Home, joined by LeadingAge New York and state lawmakers including Senator Jeremy Cooney and Assemblymembers Harry B. Bronson, Sarah Clark, Josh Jensen, and Jen Lunsford, hosted a press conference to spotlight the growing nursing home funding crisis and its direct impact on Rochester-area families. Providers, residents, families, and lawmakers came together to call on the state to stop the closures and fully fund nursing home care. News10NBC coverage available here.

Thank you to all who continue to stand with us and partner in these press efforts. Let’s keep up the advocacy!

 

Thank You for Participating in the March 4 Phone Call Day of Action!

Thank you to all LeadingAge New York members who participated in the Phone Call Day of Action on Wednesday, March 4th! Members across the state called their State Senators and Assembly Members to urge them to be vocal in their respective conferences for the adequate funding of nursing homes and long-term care in advance of the one-house budget proposals.

Your calls make a real difference. As we have seen in past budget cycles, direct constituent contact is one of the most impactful forms of advocacy. Legislators and their staff pay close attention when providers, families, and community members take the time to call and share their stories. Every phone call reinforces the urgency of our message: New York’s nursing homes and long-term care providers need meaningful investment now.

If you were unable to participate on March 4th, it is not too late! We strongly encourage members to continue reaching out to your legislators over the coming days. You can find your legislator’s contact information here.

When you call state legislative offices:

  • Highlight the two to four budget requests that are most important to your organization. A straightforward list of budget requests, per service line, is available on the second page of our general issue brief.
  • Explain why the budget action is needed and what it would mean for the people you serve.
  • Do your best to explain how this issue impacts constituents, and why they need to highlight the need for these budget requests in conference.
  • If legislative staff have questions, you can encourage them to contact our team at LeadingAge NY. 

Phone Call Talking Points for Nursing Homes:

  1. Please continue last year’s funding of $445 million, and secure $750 million of new funding for nursing homes (one-half share of the new $1.5 billion to be divided evenly between nursing homes and hospitals).
    1. Why this matters: Acuity adjustments are frozen at July 2023 levels, and nursing homes went from 2007 to 2023 with no material increase to their operating rate. We need a meaningful investment to stabilize the sector, enable us to secure the workforce residents deserve, and ensure access to care for patients seeking discharge from hospitals. Helping nursing homes helps the hospitals, and hospitals have access to alternative funding streams outside of this $1.5 billion pool.
  2. Keep the 10% capital cut restoration, and restore the remaining 5% cut from 2020 (approximately $16 million).
  3. Emphasize the nursing home closure crisis and the challenges of your organization and community. Closure data points are available on our general and nursing home issue briefs. All other budget issue briefs are available here.
  4. Apply pressure on the legislator to please stand up in conference, urging for meaningful investments in non-profit nursing homes.

 

SFY 2026-27 Executive Budget Resources from LeadingAge New York

Thank you for your advocacy at this critical point in the NYS Budget process! Please reach out with any questions.

 

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

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