Budget vote to wrap by Saturday, Legislature to leave for break

Plus, Numbers of New York looks at a fund used to pay for legal services for low-income people.

Good afternoon — it’s Friday, and National Garlic Day.

FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024

TODAY’S CAPCON:

• More budget bills are out and we’ll tell you what’s in them

• Numbers of New York looks at a particular budget item related to civil legal defense

🔨 Is Monday a Session Day? No.

☁️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Chance of rain, high 40s New York City: Rain likely, high 40s (National Weather Service)

---

Lawmakers continued to vote on the budget Friday. (Dan Clark/Times Union)

💸 Budget vote expected to wrap by Saturday, lawmakers heading home

It’s going to be a long night at the state Capitol for members of the Legislature and their staff.

• Budget bills continue to be introduced, and both chambers have been moving them to the floor for a debate and vote.

As of this newsletter, two of the budget bills still hadn’t been released. That includes ELFA — the Education, Labor and Family Assistance bill.

• That’s the bill that’s expected to have some of the more controversial items in it.

• Some might even call it a Big Ugly, as these omnibus Frankenstein bills have sometimes been called.

The other remaining bill is the State Operations bill, which funds various state operations and entities.

So, we’re almost done. Lawmakers expect the budget vote to bleed into Saturday and then they’re off for the next two weeks.

• By the time you get Monday’s CapCon, the budget is expected to be approved and in the rearview. 

But for now, we’re still in budget mode. Four new budget bills were introduced Friday, with the final two expected soon.

• Health and Mental Hygiene (A8807C/S8307C)

• Capital Projects (A8804D/S8304D)

• Aid to Localities (A8803D/S8303D)

• Legislature & Judiciary (A8801A/S8301A)

Let’s go through some of the major items that are in them.

✅ Health and Mental Hygiene

There are several extensions of current spending and programs in this bill, but they’re tied to specific statutes.

I’ll dig into some of those next week and tell you about anything of note.

Hospitals:

• Hospital Payments: Medicaid payments to hospitals will increase temporarily over the next fiscal year by an aggregate $525 million.

• Safety Net Hospitals: This will create the Healthcare Safety Net Transformation Program to support struggling safety net hospitals.

• Underinsured Costs: State law will require hospitals to create financial aid policies and procedures for uninsured and underinsured people. Immigration status wouldn’t be a determinant for eligibility.

• SUNY Downstate: An advisory board will be formed to review and examine options to keep SUNY Downstate Medical Center open.

Medicaid:

• MCO Tax: This language provides a path for the state to tax managed care organizations if a waiver to do so is approved by the federal government.