News & Info for NYS Council Members, 1/5/26
January 5, 2026
Thank you to our colleagues at families together nys for submitting the LETTER TO THE EDITOR (Below) that was published in today’s albany times union in support of our call for a carve out of certain mh and sud services from the state’s medicaid managed care program!!!
Medicaid shouldn’t put profits ahead of children’s mental health
Paige Pierce, Albany, Letter to the Editor, 1/5/26
Families Together in NYS supports the call to carve behavioral health out of Medicaid Managed Care. Profit should never come before access to health care — especially in a public program like Medicaid.
Many parents have lived through the agonizing experience of persuading a commercial health plan to cover a child’s behavioral health treatment. The problem became so widespread that New York enacted some of the strongest mental health parity laws in the country. Yet two decades later, insurers still find ways to skirt those requirements. Now the state has handed control of Medicaid behavioral health to an industry that includes bad actors known for delaying and denying care.
From the moment parents realize their child needs help, they act with urgency — only to be met with indifference and a system seemingly designed to restrict access.
It is in parents’ interest to secure care for their children. It is in providers’ interest to deliver that care. But is it in insurers’ financial interest to pay for it? That misalignment, once largely confined to private insurance, is now confronting families who rely on Medicaid. Parents make countless calls searching for in-network providers. Short-staffed programs have months-long waitlists. Instead of providing care, staff spend precious time chasing delayed payments and appealing denied claims.
Healing is delayed. Then come the calls from schools, the visits to emergency rooms — or worse. Meanwhile, managed care organizations extract hundreds of millions of public dollars each year that were intended to support families most in need.
The writer is the CEO of Families Together in New York State.
Published Jan. 5, 2025
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Over the weekend, Governor Hochul publicly announced that she will resist federal pressure to tax tips on service industry employees up to $25,000 in tax year 2026, she has made a multi-year commitment to child tax credits, and in new reporting this morning the New York Times summarizes the first Hochul State of the State proposal the Governor plans to include in her upcoming address on January 13 – Gov. Kathy Hochul will propose new privacy standards for young New Yorkers online, including safeguards that would automatically bar strangers from viewing, tagging or messaging minors. YC Mayor Mamdani who was sworn in on January 1, wants universal child care and the Governor’s actions (to date) seem to indicate she can be pushed to the ‘left’ on this (and likely additional) social issues.
Governor Hochul currently faces a Republican challenger, Bruce Blakeman (from Long Island) who is sure to call the Governor out and pressure her on matters of affordability for New Yorkers (and particularly downstate voters). Depending on who else enters the race, the Governor will find herself in a challenging position with a Democratic Socialist Mayor pushing her left, and a moderate Republican endorsed by President Trump pressuring her from the right.
RELEASE FROM GOV HOCHUL ON FRIDAY, 1/2/26
With the new tax year beginning January 1, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul is informing New Yorkers about a number of tax relief and affordability measures that will begin in the New Year. The Governor is also announcing that in her upcoming FY2027 Executive Budget proposal, she will put forth legislation that eliminates state income taxes on up to $25,000 of tipped income in tax year 2026, which follows federal guidance. This effort is a continuation of the Governor’s Affordability Agenda. Since taking office, the Governor has advanced policies that have put over $9 billion back in the pockets of New York households through tax relief efforts.
“As we welcome in the New Year, affordability remains my top priority and I am doubling down on my commitment to put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets,” Governor Hochul said. “Starting today, tax rates for the vast majority of lower and middle-class New Yorkers will be cut, families with children will see a sweeping increase in the child tax credit, and minimum wage workers across the state will see their wages go up. I’m kicking the new year off with a proposal of no state income tax on tips, continuing my efforts to make New York more affordable for hard working New Yorkers.”
Over the last 5 years, the costs on everyday essentials like groceries, insurance, utility bills, and goods and services has increased significantly, and Governor Hochul has heard directly from New Yorkers how difficult it can be to make ends meet. As a result, the Governor created her Affordability Agenda, which has delivered over $9 billion in tax relief to New York’s individuals and families since taking office. This most recent proposal of No Tax on Tips, is the latest in a series of efforts to put money back in New Yorkers pockets.
Middle Class Tax Cuts
In the FY 2026 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul secured a middle class tax cut, which, beginning January 1, 2026, will deliver nearly $1 billion in tax relief to more than 8.3 million New Yorkers. This will provide savings to taxpayers earning up to $323,000 for joint filers. When fully phased in, the middle class tax cut will deliver hundreds of dollars in average savings to nearly 77 percent of filers — representing three out of every four taxpayers.
Sweeping Increase in Child Tax Credit
In the FY2026 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul continued her efforts to expand New York’s child tax credit, providing critical financial support for more than 2.75 million children statewide. This latest expansion doubled or in many cases, tripled the current credit, offering up to $1,000 annually per child under four and up to $500 per child aged four to 16. This latest expansion marked the largest increase in the credit’s history, significantly surpassing the previous maximum of $330 per child. The expansion will be phased in over two years, with New Yorkers receiving expanded benefits starting in 2026 for children under four and extending to older children in 2027.
Increasing the Minimum Wage
Included in the FY2024 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul created a transformative plan to help low-wage New Yorkers keep up with the rising costs of living by increasing New York’s minimum wage for three years and tying future increases to inflation. Beginning January 1, 2026, New York State’s minimum wage increased to $17.00 per hour in New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, and $16.00 per hour in the rest of the state. Starting in 2027, the minimum wage will increase annually at a rate determined by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earned and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Northeast Region — the most accurate regional measure of inflation.
Governor Hochul’s Affordability Agenda
This announcement builds on Governor Hochul’s Affordability Agenda which delivered a $2B Inflation Refund program, delivering up to $400 to over 8.2 billion New Yorkers, and universal free school meals, saving parents and families up to $1,600 a year.
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POLITICO PRO, 1/5/26
ALBANY, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to center her reelection campaign on the cost of living. Doing so is putting her at odds with both the populist left and a resurgent Republican right.
She faces left-flank pressure to raise taxes on rich people so that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s expensive agenda comes to fruition. On the right, Republicans have pledged to exploit any effort to support Mamdani’s goals as a sign the moderate Democrat is beholden to the upstart democratic socialist.
Hochul holds wide leads over likely Republican nominee Bruce Blakeman and primary challenger Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, but the strength of her campaign will be vital for down-ballot Democratic candidates running in crucial House races. New York’s swing Congressional districts have the potential to determine control of the closely divided chamber and the future of Trump’s presidency.
Yet she must still work with both the untested mayor who vowed at his inauguration to govern unapologetically from the left and the volatile Republican president eager to shape the fate of Democratic-led states. Veteran politicians aren’t envious of the challenge she faces.
“I’m glad it’s Gov. Hochul and not me,” former Gov. David Paterson said. “You’re dealing with two very excitable people who are on opposite ends of the spectrum. My only suggestion to her is let them yell and criticize, but be the voice of reason. It’s putting yourself out there to your fellow New Yorkers.”
Yet the governor is showing signs that she’s willing to blend the policies of both the mercurial president and rookie mayor — making cost concerns a centerpiece for the coming year amid the expectation voters will reward her for sympathizing with their pocketbook problems.
Hochul plans to make a major push for free child care, a signature Mamdani proposal and an issue she’s supported during her time in office, with a multi-year plan to phase in a statewide program, she said in a recent radio interview — essentially backing a downpayment with the promise of future installments if she wins reelection. The governor also embraced a Trump-backed proposal to cap taxes on tips at the state level amid Republican pressure to do so, signaling plans to introduce legislation this year to the Democratic-dominated Legislature, which is set to reconvene Wednesday in Albany.
“As we welcome in the New Year, affordability remains my top priority and I am doubling down on my commitment to put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets,” Hochul said last week.
The governor, though, is facing opponents who will try to lay claim to the affordability mantle that Mamdani leveraged so effectively in his longshot bid for mayor. That will put pressure on Hochul to deliver on these populist themes — or potentially face the electoral consequences.
“Politicians are the original copycats,” said Democratic strategist Austin Shafran. “Zohran masterfully articulated an affordability agenda and was able to articulate concerns to a broader electorate. You’re going to see a lot of people try to thematically copy the message of his campaign and that may counteract a lot of the uncertainty.”
Hochul’s reelection will hinge on whether she can adroitly navigate a destabilizing populist tide that has consumed this political era — defined by voters fed up with rising costs and elections won by norm-shattering politicians like Trump and Mamdani. Hochul is drawing energetic challenges from Delgado, her own hand-picked lieutenant governor who is trying to channel Mamdani’s victory in his uphill bid, and Blakeman, a Trump-backed Republican who hails from a suburban bellwether county.
Impatient voters are increasingly willing to punish any candidate who fails to grasp their cost-of-living concerns. How Hochul adapts to this political moment will determine her electoral fate — and potentially provide a roadmap for fellow moderates struggling to make the center hold.
Mollifying voters’ affordability concerns is not an easy task and Trump’s low marks over his handling of the economy is a case in point. The president’s insistence that inflation is tamed, prices are down and the economy under his watch is on the rebound runs the risk of replicating voters’ complaints that Democrats were oblivious to how they felt about their financial plight.
Further complicating Hochul’s year is the unusual bind she finds herself in — essentially sandwiched between the two main characters of America’s political drama.
Mamdani’s free child care and bus service must be approved by Albany and will be difficult to deliver to voters in a deeply expensive city. Increasing taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and large corporations, while politically popular and drew enthusiastic cheers during Mamdani’s inaugural speech, opens Hochul up to Republican attacks as she runs for reelection. Trump may further meddle in his native state’s affairs by slashing federal spending to the Empire State. His administration shelved two offshore wind projects, including one near the Long Island coast, and Trump recently expressed frustration to Hochul with a controversial Manhattan toll known as congestion pricing.
Voters are willing to turn to Hochul-like moderates amid the Trump 2.0 era. In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger decisively beat Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. Mikie Sherrill retained the New Jersey governor’s office for Democrats by a double-digit margin — bucking an historical trend in the process.
Hochul, who often references her family’s economic challenges growing up in the Buffalo area, was sensitive to affordability concerns before it was a buzzy political concern.
As a new governor, Hochul backed a temporary suspension of the state’s tax on gasoline. She’s touted rebate checks to taxpayers, framed as a way of combating inflation. Hochul scaled back green energy plans amid widespread concerns over spiking utility bills — drawing complaints from environmental activists. And she reduced a controversial Manhattan toll from $15 to $9 after delaying its implementation for six months ahead of the 2024 elections out of political concerns.
But the political environment is giving her less leeway to pick and choose her policy fights.
This year, the staid governor is contending with a celebrity New York City mayor whose ardent left-leaning base will pressure her to back policies she’s been hesitant to embrace, like raising taxes. Hochul has repeatedly ruled out boosting income tax rates on the richest New Yorkers, but has hedged over hiking levies on large corporations.
Republicans pressed Hochul to back Trump’s push to cap taxes on tips by instituting a similar policy on the state level. After the governor announced her support to end taxes on up to $25,000 in tipped income, Blakeman’s campaign accused her of flip flopping on the issue — though her campaign said she never outright opposed the measure.
“Kathy, if you want more of my ‘tips’ on how to govern, just continue to follow my lead,” Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, said in a statement.
Left-leaning advocates, meanwhile, are mounting a renewed push for another state-level minimum wage increase — a move that is opposed by the governor’s allies in the business community. Hochul approved a 2023 measure that will link future wage hikes to the rate of inflation.
Hochul’s political bet, in part, is on voters preferring a steady hand on the wheel in an age of political disruption that has benefited both Trump and Mamdani. At the same time, she has strived to counter the president, including a successful effort that got him to restore $187 million in Homeland Security funding.
“She doesn’t have to be the disruptive leader that follows this trend because that might seem inauthentic,” said Basil Smikle, a former executive director of the state Democratic Committee. “What she does need to do is find a way to create a strong relationship with Mamdani. He can be the disruptive politician and be a counterweight to that, but still give a pathway to bring a lot of policies to the forefront.”
The new mayor has forged a publicly steady relationship with the governor despite their differences on key issues like Israel. Hochul has also approved of Mamdani’s hires, most notably the retention of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch — a favorite of the city’s business community.
Mamdani remains a lightning rod, though, especially among Jewish voters and suburbanites — constituencies the governor will need as she begins to campaign in earnest. The new mayor kicked off a firestorm on his first day in office when he revoked several executive orders meant to bolster Israel and deleted old tweets from his office’s X account about fighting antisemitism.
Blakeman, Hochul’s likely November opponent, is already blasting her for aligning herself with the 34-year-old democratic socialist. Hochul’s political standing is tied in large part to the incoming mayor’s success.
“It depends on how Mamdani does,” said longtime Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. “If Mamdani fails in the first six months, then she’ll take a beating.”
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(Politico, 1/5/26)
Lawmakers returning to Albany Wednesday will face a daunting array of policy puzzles on everything from artificial intelligence to housing to health care. But one prerogative will likely be driving the discourse: how to address cost-of-living concerns that are animating voters across the political spectrum and dominating practically every campaign.
That focus will be amplified by the fraught political dynamics of 2026. Gov. Kathy Hochul faces a tricky reelection contest — with a longshot left-flank primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, and a likely GOP opponent with formidable strength in the voter-rich suburbs. Meanwhile, all 213 seats in the state Senate and Assembly are on the ballot this year, meaning lawmakers’ political welfare will be top of mind. And then there’s the wildcard influence of new New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose ambitious and costly agenda is heavily dependent on help from Albany
Those factors will shape policy debates in the coming months — and the end results will influence how the November elections play out. Here’s a look at some of the most consequential issues lawmakers will likely be wrestling with:
Taxes: Hochul is facing left-flank pressure to raise taxes on rich New Yorkers and large corporations. The moderate Democrat does not want to increase the personal income tax, which is the main driver of New York’s revenue. But she has not ruled out hiking taxes on large corporations, a proposal Mamdani embraced during his run for mayor. Influential private-sector organizations, including The Business Council and Partnership for New York City, have raised objections to a corporate tax rate hike. Yet the idea is politically popular, a December Siena University poll found. Hochul is facing a delicate balance with the tax debate. She does not want to alienate business leaders and give them a reason to leave the Empire State. But the governor also needs revenue sources to pay for Mamdani’s expensive agenda — including his $6 billion universal child care proposal. (Nick Reisman)
Tech: Consumer data privacy and mitigating risks to children will again be top priorities this session as state lawmakers tackle ways to regulate artificial intelligence without stifling innovation. In the works are an updated New York AI Act, which takes aim at algorithmic discrimination, and legislation to rein in chatbots by establishing liability, both led by state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez. New efforts to set guardrails on the rapidly expanding AI industry come against the backdrop of Trump’s executive order to curb state-level regulation of the technology. New York and California are de facto partners in the pushback against Trump after Hochul, Assemblymember Alex Bores and state Sen. Andrew Gounardes struck an 11th-hour deal on the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act regulating the most sophisticated AI models. Parts of the RAISE Act mirror California’s pioneering AI law, SB 53, though New York’s law is harsher on the tech industry than California’s. (Emily Ngo)
Health care: Lawmakers will face pressure from New Yorkers to address the ballooning cost of health care and insurance while they grapple with the industry’s pleas for the state to backfill looming massive federal funding cuts. One urgent policy issue is how to address hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who become ineligible for the state’s Essential Plan or lose enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage this year. Also topping this year’s legislative agenda will be new proposals to insulate New York against the collapse of the federal government’s public health infrastructure and continuing attacks on reproductive health services and gender-affirming care. (Maya Kaufman)
Education: Hochul, Mamdani and many key Democratic lawmakers are aligned rhetorically when it comes to supporting universal free child care. But the issue will get very messy when it comes to figuring out how to foot the bill – roughly $15 billion per year to implement statewide – especially with the state facing big chronic budget deficits and steep federal funding cuts. Mamdani wants to hike taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and corporations to pay for his far-left agenda. Hochul opposes raising personal income taxes but has indicated increasing corporate tax rates could be a possibility. The other major education issue on the agenda is governance of the New York City public school system. For more than two decades, mayors have enjoyed broad authority to oversee the country’s largest school district, with nearly 900,000 students. Mamdani has indicated that he’ll push for a continuation of mayoral control — a significant reversal of his campaign promise to end the system. (Madina Toure)
Energy: After years of broad Democratic support for policies aimed at combating climate change, environmental advocates are in for another tough legislative session as Hochul emphasizes affordability and an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy policy. While environmental advocates argue that transitioning off fossil fuels will save money, some moderate Democrats have shifted their tune on emissions goals and electrification. AI data centers will be hotly debated, with numerous legislative proposals expected to tighten the rules for how they operate. A surge in the power-guzzling businesses is threatening New York’s grid, raising concerns about reliability and affordability. While an influx of large energy users could drive up utility costs, industry officials argue the economic development benefits outweigh the potential risks to consumers. Hochul may push for rollbacks of New York’s landmark 2019 climate law, which outlined ambitious emissions targets. Her administration slow-walked policies to implement the law, prompting a successful lawsuit from advocacy groups. She is appealing the decision. (Mona Zhang)
Housing: There are many housing issues the state Legislature could take up this year — but most policy watchers are skeptical any of it will gain much traction, particularly during an election year. Lawmakers approved a wide-ranging housing package two years ago, but the path to get there was long and exceedingly fraught. Everyone from REBNY — the powerful real estate industry group — to tenant activists were displeased with at least part of the 2024 deal, and lawmakers have not been eager to revisit the package. Industry groups continued to raise concerns — and push for modifications — to some of the 2024 policy changes. For example, as part of the package, lawmakers approved modest reforms to a set of tenant-friendly rent laws — but the landlord lobby says those changes did not go far enough. New York City’s rent-stabilized buildings, they warn, are rapidly deteriorating as a result — and could be exacerbated if new Mayor Zohran Mamdani succeeds in getting a rent freeze enacted for those properties. (Janaki Chadha)
Three Things to Watch This Week with Nick Reisman
1. Hochul will be finalizing her State of the State speech ahead of her Jan. 13 address. Her office will likely continue to roll out proposals, especially on the catch-all affordability front.
2. Top Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly will lay out the broad strokes of their agenda this week as they return to Albany. They’ll have to balance their own political needs with the policies New York City Mayor Mamdani wants enacted this year.
3. Republicans will try to reassert themselves on the tax issue — doubling down on a push to get Hochul to back ending taxes on overtime pay.
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A Powerful New Drug is Creating a “Withdrawal Crisis” in Philadelphia
Medetomidine, a veterinary sedative, mixed into fentanyl had sent thousands to hospital, not only for overdose but for life-threatening withdrawal. It is spreading to other cities.
(NYT, 1/3/26)
Gift Article from the NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/health/medetomidine-withdrawal-symptoms-treatment.html?unlocked_article_code=1.B1A.ONof.C_CZpVGq1nG1&smid=url-share