The 2017 New York State Legislative Session was scheduled to end on June 21 but the Senate and Assembly came back the following week to extend NYC Mayoral control of schools, pass sales tax extenders for upstate counties, and deal with a few other issues. The COPA team was very busy advocating for legislation to pass both Houses as well as ensuring that bills opposed by COPA members would not advance. Here is a brief summary of the bills of most interest to COPA members including bills that passed both Houses and are awaiting action by the Governor as well as bills that did not pass both Houses and will not become law this year.

CP of NYS joined several federal coalition partners on July 5 to meet with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik's Regional Director, Stacie Dina, in Glens Falls. The same group met with Congressman John Faso and his District Director, Ryan McAllister, that same day.  Both meetings were attended by representatives from CP of NYS, the Federation of Labor, and the Rev. Emily McNeil from NY Labor- Religion Coalition.  Both meetings lasted almost an hour and there was a productive exchange of information.  Neither office seemed aware that Medicaid cuts being proposed by Congress would have a devastating impact on people with disabilities. 

 

Congressman Faso thought that the House plan, passed in May, lessened the effect on people with disabilities.  The group was able to clarify that services for people with disabilities are "optional" under Medicaid and providing a larger Medicaid increase for the elderly and people with disabilities does not mean that those dollars will automatically go towards those services.  It was explained that a state cut of $4-$7 billion dollars would impact every aspect of the state budget and particularly Medicaid services and providers. The group also discussed the loss of #bFair2DirectCare funding, concerns of the Medicaid cuts going to tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest individuals in the country, as well as the rich American tradition of caring for society's most vulnerable and marginalized.

 

Though the group felt the conversations were instructive and worthwhile, it is unlikely to change the positions of either member of Congress. Representative Faso did say that the House Republicans would reject all of the Trump proposals to cut domestic funding and that he thought the next step in the healthcare debate would be to work with Democrats on a compromise.

 

We will continue to work on your behalf and will keep you informed of any new developments. We also ask that every Affiliate reach out to their Republican Representatives and explain the devastating impact of such cuts to Medicaid. 

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Barbara Crosier at 518-436-0178 or [email protected] .

Barbara Crosier