Plugged In @ Hinman Straub

January 16, 2023

What’s Inside

  • 2024 Legislative Session/Assembly Leadership Positions
  • 2024 State of the State
  • Governor Announces Medicaid 1115 Waiver Amendment
  • Governor Launches Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation RFPs
  • Governor’s Director of Policy Resigns
  • In The News
  • Coming Up

2024 Legislative Session/Assembly Leadership Positions

The legislature convened session on Monday and Tuesday this week. Earlier this week, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced new leadership positions in the Assembly, which are as follows:

  • Chair, Labor – Harry B. Bronson;
  • Chair, Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce, and Industry – Al Stirpe;
  • Chair, Small Business – Carrie Woerner; and
  • Chair, Libraries and Education Technology – Angelo Santabarbara.

Subsequently, the Senate Democratic Majority advanced a package of legislation focusing on election reforms and the empowerment of voters in New York. The voting reforms being passed by the Senate Democratic Majority, include:

Crimes of Voter Deception and Suppression: This bill, S263, sponsored by Senator Stewart-Cousins, prohibits deceptive practices and the suppression of voters, and increases penalties for violations of the elective franchise.

Democracy Preservation Act: This bill, S371, sponsored by Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris would ban political spending by foreign-influenced business entities in New York’s state and local elections.

Refreshments at the polls: This bill, S616, sponsored by Senator Zellnor Myrie, allows snacks and non-alcoholic drinks to be given to voters waiting in line at the polls.

Doctor John L. Flateau Voting and Elections Database and Academic Center of New York Act: This bill, S657A, sponsored by Senator Zellnor Myrie, establishes a New York voting and elections database and an academic center to maintain a statewide database of voting and election data and serve as a research hub.

Political Committee Public Website Transparency: This bill, S6675, sponsored by Senator Neil Breslin requires public-facing websites that are operated by political committees to include “paid for by” language.

Absentee Ballot Drop-off Box Locations: This bill, S610, sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, allows local Board of Elections to establish absentee ballot drop-off locations to provide voters with a convenient alternative option to submit their absentee ballots.

Protecting Constitutional Rights: This resolution, B1460, sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger, rescinds calls for a constitutional convention to protect all existing constitutional rights.

Portable Polling Locations: This bill, S242, sponsored by Senator Rachel May, amends the election law to allow counties the option to establish portable polling places for early voting.

Ballot Order: This bill, S5943, sponsored by Senator James Skoufis modifies the order in which candidates appear on the ballot in descending order based on the size of the electorate and requires certain federal offices to be listed before state, county, and local offices.

Multistate Voter List Maintenance Organizations: This bill, S6173B, sponsored by Senator James Skoufis, authorizes the state board of elections to join a multistate voter list maintenance organization such as the electronic registration information center also known as ERIC.

The Senate Majority’s highlights of this legislative package can be found in a press release here.

The Legislature will reconvene on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

2024 State of the State

On Tuesday, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her third State of the State Address in the Assembly Chamber at the State Capitol. The full briefing book can be accessed here. The Address can be watched here and the Governor’s transcript remarks can be read here.

The Governor’s office issued press releases for each proposal, which can be found below.

As a reminder, the New York State Constitution requires the Executive Budget proposal to be released on the second Tuesday following the first day of the legislative session in January. Since the first day of session was Wednesday, January 3, the Governor must release her initial Executive Budget legislation by Tuesday, January 16.

The Governor will also have the option to deliver an Executive Budget presentation, focusing on the finances, along with the state’s Budget Director, to support her policy goals laid out in her State of the State policy book. The Governor has not announced a date and time for the Executive Budget presentation.

Once the Executive Budget is submitted, Governor Hochul may submit amendments to her original proposal after 21 and 30 days. The Senate and Assembly will release their respective one-house budget proposals in early to mid-March, kicking off final negotiations between both legislative leaders and the Governor ahead of the final budget due date, which is April 1.

Governor Announces Medicaid 1115 Waiver Amendment

Governor Hochul has announced the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved an amendment to New York’s Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration. It bundles a series of actions to advance health equity, reduce health disparities, and strengthen access to primary and behavioral health care across the state, and will be supported through $7.5 billion in funding over the next three years.

CMS’ approval allows New York to make large investments across a series of wide-ranging Medicaid initiatives, including establishing Social Care Networks to integrate health, behavioral, and social care services that connect high-need members to critical nutritional and housing support services; enhancing access to coordinated and comprehensive treatment for substance use disorders; investing in primary care; providing funding for private, safety-net hospitals to undertake global budget pilots; and making investments in the state’s health care workforce.

The demonstration will address significant health care workforce shortages in safety net settings through innovative career pathways training programs for front-line health and social care professionals that will increase access to culturally appropriate services. These career pathways training programs will train and educate for the purpose of creating a reliable healthcare workforce pipeline to address workforce shortages, as well as increasing opportunities for employment and career advancement. The workforce initiatives also include a loan repayment program for certain healthcare workforce professionals who commit to working in community-based practices in underserved areas, including dentists, psychiatrists, and clinical nurse specialists.

By the end of the demonstration, the state’s goal is to have made significant progress in its Value-Based Payment (VBP) strategies and alignment across Medicare and Medicaid to advance primary care and population health outcomes.

Governor Hochul said:

This amendment allows New York to make investments in critical Medicaid initiatives that will enhance health equity in this state. CMS’ approval of the amendment will help us to continue to support underserved communities, provide New Yorkers with critical services such as nutrition and housing support, and improve access for individuals and families affected by substance use.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said:

This Medicaid 1115 waiver amendment will help the Department continue to invest in the health and well-being of New Yorkers. I thank CMS for giving us the opportunity to continue to invest in high quality health services and programs, expand the health care workforce, and strive towards true health equity.

Governor Launches Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation RFPs

Governor Hochul has launched request for proposals (RFPs), making $950 million in additional state funding available to support projects that will transform and secure New York State’s healthcare delivery system. Administered by the State Department of Health and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program will help to improve patient care by supporting high-quality facilities serving the inpatient, primary care, mental health, substance use disorder, and long-term care needs of communities throughout the state.

Three RFPs were issued, including the following:

  • Up to $250 million from Statewide IV to drive transformative healthcare investments.
  • Up to $650 million from Statewide IV and V to support investments in health information technology, telehealth transformation, and cybersecurity in healthcare facilities.
  • Up to $50 million from Statewide IV for residential and community-based alternatives to the traditional model of nursing home

More information can be found here.

Governor’s Director of Policy Resigns

Micah Lasher, Director of Policy to the Governor, has resigned from his position, effective Wednesday, January 10. Lasher served in the administration as Director of Policy since 2021. According to reports from POLITICO, Lasher is expected to announce a run for a state Assembly seat in the 69th District, recently vacated by Democrat Danny O’Donnell.

In a statement to POLITICO, Governor Hochul said:

Micah Lasher is a brilliant policymaker whose impact will be felt long into the future of our state. I was fortunate to have Micah by my side from the early days of my administration as we worked to make New York more affordable, more livable and safer. He’s an incredible public servant and we’ll miss his contributions greatly.

In The News

City & State NY’s Weekly Winners and Losers here.

City & State NY’s 2024 Political Power 75 here.

Erie County Democrats nominate state Sen. Tim Kennedy as candidate in NY-26 special election.

Paid Family Leave payout maximum increased for 2024.

The changing congressional map is shifting the fight for control of the House.

Affordability a focus for the region’s state lawmakers this year.

Bronx Assemblywoman’s resignation leaves Dems with razor-thin majority to pass congressional maps.

How to dump dark money in New York elections – and get away with it.

Rochester’s Harry Bronson takes over as New York State Assembly Labor Committee chair.

Hochul proposes workforce training centers to boost manufacturing.

Bill offers counter to New York’s Cap-and-Invest pre-proposal.

Five environmental issues to watch this session.

Fanny Villarreal to contest Senator Rachel May’s seat in 2024 elections.

Lawmakers react to Hochul’s housing ideas, double down on push for Good Cause.

States face budget woes as huge infusions of federal cash run out.

Hochul vs. Legislature: The blame game has begun.

Coming Up

The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on January 18.

The Commission on Ethics in Lobbying and Government will hold its next meeting on January 24.

The Senate Transportation Committee will hold a public hearing to examine passenger rail within New York State, the “90B” rail improvement plan adopted by the State Department of Transportation, areas for service improvement, and the possible adoption of high-speed rail on January 29.

*RESCHEDULED* The Assembly will hold a public hearing to hear from the New York State Workers Compensation Board, experts in workers compensation, workers compensation lawyers, labor partners, and injured workers on the current state of workers compensation and to bring light to areas of improvement on February 5.

The Boards of Regents will hold its next meeting on February 12 and 13.