30-Day Executive Budget Amendments Released

February 19, 2026

As you will read below, the Governor’s Office released 30 day budget amendments earlier today. Ordinarily 30-day amendments provide an opportunity for the Executive to correct mistakes, type-o’s, and to make other technical changes to the budget it released about a month ago. If you choose to review the documents you will see this play out in many of the budget bills.

Of Interest:

The Aid to Localities bill makes meaningful (positive) changes to the funds available through the Opioid Settlement Fund in the coming year (see pages beginning on page 879 of the ATL Narrative document, and page 880 of the ATL Amendments document.) It looks like legislative language has been added to the ATL bill that expressly reserves the $35M in interest income from the Opioid Settlement Fund account, puts OASAS in charge of the funds but also requires approval of a plan to spend these funds, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of the Budget (DOB). This is not uncommon and all in all, seems to protect the funds to a certain extent, from them being returned to the state’s ‘general fund’.

In addition to the change discussed above, FQHCs and Article 28 Clinics receive an increase (+20M) from the executive budget proposal’s original appropriation ($40M) for the Healthcare Stability Fund Investment Program, bringing the new total available to these providers, to $60M.

MCO Tax – Background: The MCO tax is one way New York currently generates more federal Medicaid revenue. As you may recall, the Biden Administration approved New York’s application to implement the Tax shortly before it left office, and the Trump administration banned the MCO Tax in H.R. 1 (the OBBBA) – with some caveats including the fact that states can apply for an extension of up to 2 years time before it implements Work Requirements, however, Trump administration officials have made it clear that an extension sound like an extension is unlikely to be granted (if ever). When the Governor released her Executive Budget in January, we thought the ban would take effect on 3/1/26, but a week later we learned that the ban won’t take effect until 12/31/26, so NYS gets 9 more months of revenue. This means there’s some extra money to spend in the new 30-day amendments.

How much extra money? The Fiscal Policy Institute estimates that it’s $1.3 billion in extra revenue but the state says it’s exactly $1B.
So, how is the Governor spending the money (as discussed in the 30 day amendments that came out today)? None of it ($0) is being spent in FY27, it’s all saved up for FY28 and FY29. In those years it will go to fund hospital rate increases and the Safety Net Transformation Program. The Program has been redesigned to incentivize partnerships between safety net hospitals and established health care facilities, offering regulatory flexibility to enhance financial viability and care quality. The program was originally established in the FY 2025 Budget with an initial $800 million in resources but today’s amendments propose to increase the available amount to $1.3B – apparently based on demand as expressed by the number of applications the state received last year.

The Issue: Over the next two years, 1 million New Yorkers will lose insurance due to Essential Plan changes (beginning this July), and Medicaid Work Requirements. (And this is assuming NYS gets approval for the Essential Plan change it seeks — it’s the “optimistic” outcome!) The Fiscal Policy Institute’s analysis has shown that the state could entirely prevent this loss of coverage for $1.1B in FY27 and a bit more in the out years. As a result, some here in Albany are saying that the Governor has chosen to prioritize provider rate increases over protecting health insurance — even when money turns up unexpectedly. (Source: FPI)

APG Rates – a new Part U – a provision that would extend payment of APG rates for reimbursement of BH services, through 3/31/31.

Interestingly, the current APG reimbursement rates extender covers payment of the rates through 3/31/27. However, the Exec is choosing to early extend for a 5 year period rather than the usual 4 year cycle we’ve seen in the past. We think this may stem from a desire to avoid a problem that could develop next year if the final budget agreement is late. As you read earlier today in the Politico article we sent, next year’s budget is shaping up to be a major fiscal quagmire. The thinking might be that it’s best to move all expiring statutes out of harm’s way, where possible. We will do some reconnaissance.

You can read the Part U proposal included in the 30 day budget amendments by scrolling down to the first email we sent today (at bottom) and clicking on the link in orange labeled Part U (under Article VII – Health & Mental Hygiene).

RM&S Review

30-Day Executive Budget Amendments Released

Governor Hochul released her 30-day budget amendments. Please find links to the FY 2027 Executive Budget Legislation Amendments linked here and below.

FY 2027 Executive Budget Legislation Amendments

FY 2027 Appropriations Bills Amendments

State Operations Bill