News & Info plus FOCUSED ADVOCACY

April 21, 2025

First, on May 15 and May 23, the NYS Council will host ‘Members Only’ Webinars facilitated by Health Management Associates (HMA) consultants that are designed to:

1) Assist our members with ongoing challenges associated with maintaining internal and external messaging that speaks to your core values and mission while avoiding unwanted attention from the Trump Administration and others.  (May 15 from 9:15-10:15) 

2) Strengthen your ability to quickly assess and take action when unexpected federal policies/executive orders create a potential crisis for your organization that threatens continued viability of core programs and services, and access to care for the New Yorkers who depend on your services.  (May 23 from 9:15-10:15)

More details to follow but for the time being we wanted to make sure you block the time on your calendar for these Webinars.  Registration information to follow shortly.

Don’t miss these Webinars!

STATE BUDGET PROGRESS & FOCUSED ADVOCACY IN THE HOME STRETCH

The logjam that was holding up progress on the SFY26 state budget was (at least partially) broken last week with Speaker Heastie and other state leaders indicating that a deal had been made on Discovery Reform.  The focus now shifts to other remaining budget issues including (but not limited to) the fight around Involuntary Commitment (which is actually a policy issue that has been forced into the state budget negotiations process).  

There is some reason to believe a final budget deal can be reached this week. Lawmakers will be back in Albany tomorrow when they will need to do another state budget extender to keep funds flowing while leaders continue to negotiate.  All of this makes focused advocacy this week that much more important.  
We have numerous state budget issues to focus on with state lawmakers this week including (but not limited to):

  • 7.8% Targeted Inflationary Increase
  • OMIG Audit Reform
  • $200M for children’s outpatient mental health services 

Beginning today and throughout the week, please visit the NYS Council’s Advocacy Center and send lawmakers letters on these critical budget issues.  We will be updating the letters available this morning and by this afternoon all should be updated.   https://nyscouncil.org/advocacy-action-center/

FEDERAL ADVOCACY / KEEP PUSHING, VISITING, STORYTELLING, DEMONSTRATING

Earlier this month, Congress approved a budget resolution that directed specific House and Senate committees to craft portions of what will ultimately be one reconciliation package. However, that resolution only told committees how much money to spend or cut—not how to do so. Committees will have to release legislative text detailing how they’ll achieve their targets in order to begin markups. For example, there’s been a lot of discussion about the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s directive to cut $880 billion (over 10 years( and some Republicans’ insistence that they won’t cut Medicaid to meet that benchmark. That argument has been somewhat sustainable up until this point—although, even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said there’s no way to make $880 billion in cuts without seriously cutting Medicaid. Now, though, Republicans will have to propose and vote on actual policies, not just dollar amounts. This, in turn, will allow stakeholders to point out proposals and votes that will help—or harm—specific communities.  While GOP committee leaders aren’t likely to reveal those proposals until a couple days before the markups, the table below details committees’ directives and the policies Republicans could put forward to achieve them.  

What to watch from Democrats
Markups also provide Democrats’ first real opportunity to put Republicans on the record in support or opposition to specific policies and outcomes. Historically, the minority party achieves this by proposing amendments. To be clear: the likelihood of minority-party amendments actually ending up in the bill is slim to none. Committee compositions are lopsided in favor of the majority, so there are more Republicans on the committees above than there are Democrats—making it very hard for the majority to lose votes. On top of that, members are highly discouraged from crossing party lines during these votes. Because majority-party defections are verboten, members of the minority have historically used amendments to force votes that put majority party members on the record on key issues, even if the votes are destined to fail.

For example, during the 2017 Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Democrats forced votes to block tax hikes on families, protect veterans’ care, prevent hospital closures, and much more. All of these amendments failed, but forced Republicans to take public positions. In addition, amendments generated prolonged debates—in one case, a markup lasted 27 hours straight—and that, in turn, generated press coverage and public attention to the effort to repeal the ACA. If past is prologue, we’ll likely see another big push to both force these kinds of amendment votes and make sure the public hears about them. That can be a heavy lift, especially when we’re talking about committee activities buried on CSPAN 2 at best. 

TAKE ACTION

REMINDER!  Medicaid Matters New York has produced a series of 26 Medicaid Fact Sheets (by Congressional district) to highlight the importance of Medicaid to New Yorkers and the impact cuts would have in each district.

Find your district’s fact sheet to share with community members and your Representative.

Fill out this form to send a message to your member of Congress and our U.S. Senators to remind them that Medicaid matters to New Yorkers.  Here’s an easy message you can copy and paste into the form that allows you to send a message to your representative quickly.

TALKING POINTS TO USE WHEN SENDING A MESSAGE TO YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND OUR US SENATORS (USING FORM LINKED DIRECTLY ABOVE):

Medicaid provides healthcare for 1 in 5 Americans, including seniors, people with disabilities, children, and low-income adults. Medicaid funding cuts would disproportionately affect communities of color, rural areas, and low-income families. In New York, 33% (2.4 million) of children under 19 rely on Medicaid to partially or fully cover their health insurance needs and about 37% (468,000) of households with children rely on SNAP.

Leaders in Congress are going too far, too fast. Recklessly cutting billions from Medicaid will terminate health care for millions of people. The crisis that would result from the proposed cuts to Medicaid will have disastrous impacts. I urge you to protect Medicaid at all costs.These cuts and changes would hurt millions of people nationwide—especially those with substance use disorders (SUDs), mental health (MH) conditions, and arrest and conviction records—by threatening their ability to obtain lifesaving care and nutrition. 

—————————

Moira Tashjian, Executive Deputy Commissioner at the New York State Office of Mental Health, has announced her retirement. Ben Rosen will become the Executive Deputy Commissioner at OMH and will be supported by Tracey Wilson as Chief of Staff.  Moira will be retiring at the end of June but she will remain available until the end of July. 

Advocates warn that proposed federal cuts to Medicaid and Medicare—up to $880 billion over the next decade—could worsen the Black maternal health crisis. Medicaid covers over 64% of births by Black women and provides essential prenatal and postpartum care, helping reduce maternal deaths, which Black women experience at three times the rate of white women. Many of these deaths are preventable. Advocates emphasize that Medicaid is crucial for managing high-risk pregnancies and closing racial health gaps. Lawmakers like Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Cory Booker are pushing for expanded coverage through the Mommies Act, warning that cuts could undo years of progress. (Article here)