Legislative Bulletin: Senate Completes 2026 Legislative Work, Assembly Work Continues
June 5, 2026
Senate Completes 2026 Legislative Work, Assembly Work Continues
The 2026 New York State Legislative Session was scheduled to conclude yesterday, on June 4th, however, the State Assembly has resumed its work today and aims to pass more bills before they close this year’s session. While the Senate completed its work late last night, delivering end-of-session remarks at approximately 1 a.m., the Assembly is expected to continue its work through today and into this evening. LeadingAge New York will continue to monitor all bill activity during these final hours of legislative session, advocating on priority bills at every opportunity.
Next week, we will provide the final Legislative Bulletin for the 2026 Legislative Session. That edition will cover the final actions of the Legislature and highlight opportunities to continue advocacy over the summer and fall. Then, in the weeks following the close of session, LeadingAge New York will publish a 2026 Legislative Bill Summary, reviewing the most high-level priority legislation that was tracked on behalf of members, along with their outcomes. In the meantime, members can review priority legislation and its current status in the section of this bulletin titled, “End of Session Priority Bill Status Update”.
LeadingAge NY Publishes Final Budget Memo
Last week, the New York State Legislature approved the final spending plan for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026-27. LeadingAge New York issued a high-level summary of final budget measures most relevant to our membership on Wed., May 27th. Then, yesterday LeadingAge NY published our comprehensive Final Budget Memo, covering all member service lines. Both the short summary and the comprehensive memo are available on our website here, for members only.
LeadingAge New York is pleased to report that, in a year burdened with challenging fiscal out-year projections, we and our members secured meaningful investments in the state’s long-term care (LTC) sector in the final budget. As we prepared for this year’s budget advocacy, we were bracing for a difficult fight due to financial headwinds resulting from federal policy changes that reduced the federal funding available to the State. Fortunately, thanks to persistent and growing advocacy over recent years, policymakers recognized the need in our sector and worked to make LTC and aging New Yorkers more of a priority.
As we celebrate our budget wins, we must be prepared to continue to advocate and educate state policymakers over the summer. While our efforts were successful this year, it does not change the challenging fiscal out-year projections the state is preparing for. It is likely that policymakers will be looking for state savings in upcoming budget cycles. To defend against any potential cuts that could be proposed in 2027 or in the coming years, it is crucial that we and our members maintain a strong advocacy presence and continue to build relationships with legislative offices over the summer and fall.
Next week’s Legislative Bulletin will highlight the upcoming June Primary Elections and November General Elections, and ways that members can easily engage and maintain relationships with state legislators through the remainder of the calendar year. Thank you for remaining committed to advocacy, even in the “off-season”!
Reminder: Please Thank Your State Legislators for Budget Investments!
LeadingAge New York members are strongly encouraged to thank their State legislators and the Governor for investing in LTC in the SFY 2026-27 budget. This year’s Executive Budget proposed new dollar investments and minimal proposed cuts to LTC. In addition, throughout the last two months of state budget work, we heard numerous reports of your state legislators standing up in closed-door Democratic and Republican Conference meetings to say, “we need to do more for nursing homes and long-term care”.
While we may not have gotten every dollar or budget action we had hoped for, it is important that we thank the many legislators who stood with us, and who stood up for us when we needed it most!
If you have not already done so, please take a few minutes to contact your state legislators and thank them for fighting for the funding that your organization needs and your residents or patients deserve.
- Members may refer to LeadingAge NY’s short final budget summary to refresh your mind on what was in – and what was left out – of the Final Budget.
- Using that information, and the actions most relevant to your organization, thank legislators for the funding that was included in the budget, and consider inviting them to visit your organization over the summer.
- If there were budget proposals that you wish were included in the final agreement, you could indicate that you look forward to continuing to work with them on those proposals next year.
Lastly, LeadingAge New York must once again thank YOU, our members, for displaying an incredible commitment to advocacy and for standing up for the people you care for. None of our advocacy success is possible without your voice. We hope you can celebrate the wins as we rest and prepare for next year’s state budget cycle.
End of Session Priority Bill Status Update
As the State Assembly continues its work today, LeadingAge New York continues our advocacy for and against several pieces of legislation that are of importance to our membership.
Below, members can find a brief review of priority bill outcomes as of this writing. We will provide a more comprehensive end-of-session bill summary in the coming weeks.
Bills Passed in Both Houses – Awaiting Delivery to Governor
- Expansion of Nursing Home Admissions Package – Memo in Opposition
- Nursing Home & Hospice Contract Requirements – Memo in Opposition
- ACF Closure Requirements – No Position
- ACF Financial Statements – Support
- Extension of Physical Therapy Assistants in Home Care – Support Memo
- Home Care Worker Wage Parity – Support Memo
- NHTD Waitlists – Memo in Support
- Payment Parity for Durable Medical Equipment – Concerns
Bills Passed in One House
- Supervision of Physical Therapy Assistants in Home Care – Support Memo
- Nursing Home Closure Plans & Public Hearings – Memo in Opposition
- Resident Right to Legal Counsel – Memo in Opposition
- Web Portal for Electronic Record Requirement – Memo in Opposition
- Changes to Character and Competence – Memo in Opposition
- Office of Medicaid Inspector General Audit & Review – Memo in Support
- Quality Incentive for Managed Care Providers – Memo in Support
Bills Failing to Advance
- Electronic Monitoring in Nursing Homes and ALRs – Memo in Opposition
- Elimination of Partial-Cap MLTC – Memo in Opposition
- Pediatric Palliative Care Centers – Memo in Opposition
- Written Consent for Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes – Memo in Opposition
- Increase in Monetary Penalties for Violations of Public Health Law – Memo in Opposition
- Rectification of ACF Violations – Memo in Opposition
- Resident Assistance in Affordable Senior Housing – Memo in Support
- Authorize CMAs in Nursing Homes – Memo in Support
- Role of the Nurse in ACF – Memo in Support
- Additional Staff Titles in NH Staffing Mandate – Memo in Support
- Wrongful Death Claims – Oppose
Please reach out to Sarah Daly (sdaly@leadingageny.org) with any questions on the status or work being done on LeadingAge NY priority legislation.
SFY 2026-27 State Budget Advocacy Resources from LeadingAge NY
- LeadingAge NY Final SFY 2026-27 Budget Summary
- Initial Summary of SFY 2026-27 Final Budget
- Summary of One-House Budget Proposals
- Comprehensive Executive Budget Summary
- Budget Issue Briefs
Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org