CapCon: Caucus Conversation, NYC Budget Cuts, Hochul and Home Care, John Avlon
CapCon: Caucus Conversation, NYC Budget Cuts, Hochul and Home Care, John Avlon
Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus Chair Michaelle Solages chats budget priorities, NYC avoids more immediate cuts, John Avlon takes on NY-1
Good afternoon — it’s Wednesday, and National Sticky Bun Day.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2024
TODAY’S CAP CON: What the BPRHA Legislative Caucus wants this year, how New York City is avoiding immediate cuts, why John Avlon is running for Congress, how home care advocates see Hochul’s budget, and more.
🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? No.
❄️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Partly cloudy, high 20s. New York City: Partly cloudy, low 30s (National Weather Service)
💵 NYC Budget Cuts: New York City Mayor Eric ADAMS said Wednesday the city will be able to avoid another immediate round of spending cuts for city agencies.
That’s thanks to higher tax revenues than were expected and a 10 percent cut in migrant spending, Adams said.
That could change the conversation in Albany on how much aid the city should get in this year’s state budget.
Adams also said the city will be able to ease its hiring freeze, but cautioned that all is not well.
“Make no mistake — we are not out of the woods, as we still need Albany and Washington, D.C., to play their roles in providing New Yorkers with additional support,” Adams said.
Gov. Kathy HOCHUL is proposing $2.4 billion in aid for the city in this year’s state budget to help manage the influx of migrants, many of whom are seeking asylum.
Adams told the Legislature recently that he’d like more, hoping for a 50-50 split in costs between the city and state.
🏃 He’s Running: Former CNN anchor John AVLON is running for Congress as a Democrat to unseat U.S. Rep. Nick LALOTA, a freshman Republican who succeeded former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican who ran for governor in 2022.
If that district stays as is, while Democrats consider new lines for Congress, Avlon would have an uphill battle to victory based on how recent elections have played out there.
LaLota won the district with about 56 percent of the vote in 2022, compared to 45 percent for the Democratic candidate.
Before that, Zeldin had represented the district since 2015.
The Suffolk County district has also shifted red in recent years, electing Republican Edward Romaine as county executive.
Before that, Democrat Steve Bellone held the office for about a decade.
But Democrats have won in the area before. Former Rep. Tim Bishop, a Democrat, held the district from 2003 through 2014.
Bishop even beat Zeldin the first time he ran for the seat in 2008.
“We need to build the broadest possible coalition to defeat Donald Trump, defend our democracy, and win back the house from his MAGA minions,” Avlon said in a video announcing his run.
Six other Democrats are also vying for the seat, including former state Sen. James GAUGHRAN.
Savannah Viar, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, sought to frame Avlon as a “smug, liberal hack.”
“We look forward to litigating this smug, liberal hack’s past so voters can see just how left he and the rest of the modern Democrat party have become,” Viar said.
🏛️ Caucus Conversation: The future of artificial intelligence is a hot topic in New York this year, and leaders from the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus want to add equity and inclusion to that conversation.
That was one of several topics discussed this past weekend at the annual legislative conference hosted by the New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislators.
The weekend is hosted by the association, which is separate from the caucus, but provides opportunities to chat about policy and current priorities.
The theme of this year’s conference was “A.I. Renaissance”.
Assemblywoman Michaelle SOLAGES, D-Nassau County, chairs the caucus, and told me they’ve got an eye on A.I. at the Capitol as well.
“There’s a technological revolution coming to our communities, and historically, when revolutions happen, Black and brown communities are left behind,” Solages said. “We want to make sure we are putting our communities at the forefront.”
There’s a lot to that, Solages said. It should include proactive efforts to engage communities of color in potential workforce opportunities, including the creation of new technologies, she said.
Those careers often require specialized training and certification, so they want to make sure those opportunities are available for those communities.
Solages also said security and privacy should be a top concern in that area.
On The Budget: The caucus can be a big player in budget negotiations, as we saw in 2022 when the Hochul administration engaged them directly in conversations around criminal justice changes.
This year, they’re focused on expanding health care opportunities, housing and support for human services, Solages said.
“We’re talking a lot about Medicaid funding,” Solages said. “We are always pushing to make sure we fully fund that program.”
Hochul is seeking to reduce spending for Medicaid in this year’s state budget as a cost-saving measure.
On housing, Solages said the caucus is focused on affordability as a key component of any plan approved to grow development.
“We’re in an affordability crisis,” Solages said. “There’s no point in building if we’re still pushing out middle-class families.”
Hochul is proposing a program that would allow communities to access state funding for housing growth if they sign up as “pro-housing communities.”
But Solages said that, like last year, new laws to protect tenants from discrimination and eviction should be considered as well.
“I think everyone at the table needs to compromise in some aspect,” she said. “We all agree we need to build more housing.”
Extra: They also, like Hochul, want to increase the maximum payment rate for workers out on temporary disability.
That’s currently capped at $170 a week, and hasn’t been adjusted since 1989.
Solages also has a bill on this with Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos, D-Queens.
Read more about this issue from the TU’s Molly Burke. (Free for CapCon subscribers)
💸 Flat Sales Taxes: Local sales tax collections were up by less than 1 percent in January compared to the same month last year, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office said Wednesday.
New York City saw sales tax receipts grow by 3.5 percent in that time, a boost of about $29 million.
But cities and counties outside the city saw a decrease in receipts of about 2.8 percent, or $910 million.
That should factor into financial decisions at the local level, DiNapoli said.
“With overall growth having moderated over the course of 2023, local officials should remain cautious in their sales tax revenue projections for 2024,” DiNapoli said.
🏠 Hochul and Home Care: Home care advocates are blasting part of Hochul’s 30-day budget amendments released last week that propose additional changes in that area.
That’s on top of changes she had already pitched in her executive budget proposal in January that would impact the state’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP.
That program allows consumers in need of home care to select the caregiver of their choice, rather than having one assigned.
It allows most family members or friends to provide that care, enabling them to get paid for it.
That program has exploded in the last decade after a change in state law allowed family members to become caregivers through CDPAP.
There’s been a 1,200 percent increase in the program, according to the state.
Total annual spending on CDPAP is about $6 billion when state and federal funding is combined.
Hochul’s budget plan would change the program to cut down on costs.
Wage parity between home care workers and caregivers in CDPAP would end in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County.
That would allow CDPAP caregivers in those places to be paid less than home care aides contracted through a traditional agency.
The Hochul administration is expecting that change to save $100 million in state spending over the next fiscal year, and $200 million in the year after.
That’s partly because of the enrollment in the program; about 250,000 New Yorkers participate in CDPAP, according to the state.
State Budget Director Blake WASHINGTON said last week that they’re concerned about potential abuse and fraud in the program, such as people claiming they’re providing care for a loved one when they’re not.
“We’re concerned that we have widened the net so greatly that we’re inviting abuses to the system,” Washington said. “It comes at the expense of all the other things we have to invest in.”
Hochul is proposing some additional changes in her 30-day budget amendments:
Individuals who can’t direct their own care, like those with developmental disabilities, Alzheimer’s or dementia, wouldn’t be able to use CDPAP.
The state would be able to set limits on the number of hours a caregiver through CDPAP can work each day and week.
New training and selection criteria would also be added, per the proposal.
New York Caring Majority, a home care advocacy group, is opposed to all the above changes. They argue the savings would sacrifice the quality of care, and access to it, for those in need.
Bryan O’Malley, director of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association, said in a statement sent by New York Caring Majority that the Hochul administration should instead target private insurance companies.
“If Hochul is truly concerned with growing costs of CDPAP and other home care programs, she should stop handing private insurance companies billions a year to mismanage home care,” O’Malley said.
There’s disagreement between advocates and the Hochul administration about how much funding, exactly, would be cut from home care, but both agree that cuts would be involved.
The Home Care Association of New York estimates that general Medicaid cuts in Hochul’s budget would amount to about $400 million.
On The Bill features a bill in the state Legislature each week that we find interesting, and that you may not hear about otherwise.
Bill Sponsor(s): Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spandon, D-Staten Island | Assm. Manny De Los Santos, D-Manhattan
What It Would Do: A minor assault against a retail worker, or using an animal to prevent them from “performing a lawful duty”, would be automatically classified as second-degree assault, a class D felony.
Third-degree assault is a class A misdemeanor under state law, which can carry a sentence of up to a year in jail.
This bill would allow prosecutors to pursue a higher charge when the victim is a retail worker. A class D felony carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
That same protection is already allowed for first responders, law enforcement, nurses and sanitation workers in New York City.
Between the Lines: Retail theft has gone up in New York City three of the last five years, according to city officials. Shoplifting complaints were down by about 4,500 last year, but arrests were up by 3,000, according to the Adams administration.
“More importantly, this legislation would allow judges to set bail for the accused perpetrators because second-degree assault is among the crimes not covered by New York's bail reform,” the bill memo says.
Current Status: Senate Codes Committee, Assembly Codes Committee
New or Old: New bill, introduced in 2023.
Notable Views: A new coalition called Collection Action to Protect Our Stores claims to have a membership of 10,000 small businesses across the state that support the bill. I couldn’t track down any notable opposition.
💵 Aid for NYC: S8592 SEPULVEDA: Would include New York City in the state’s aid and incentives for municipalities program, also called AIM. It would allow more state aid to flow to New York City, as it does to other municipalities each year. (New bill)
🥕 Healthy Incentives: S3069A PERSAUD: Would create the New York Health Incentive Program, which would allow a dollar-for-dollar match for SNAP recipients when they buy eligible, healthy foods produced in New York. (Amended)
❤️🩹 Home Care Pay: S8599 MAYER: Would allow family members to become certified and be paid to care for a “medically fragile child”. This is currently allowed when caring for an older adult. (Senate same-as introduced)
🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? No.
There are no events scheduled at the Capitol for Thursday.
🍩 National Sticky Bun Day: I’m probably the only person who thought a sticky bun was a catch-all term for sticky pastries. But that’s not the case. Today is dedicated to the sticky bun.
It’s thought that early German settlers introduced the sticky bun to the states.
It’s apparently popular in Pennsylvania, and specifically around Philadelphia, where some Germans settled in the 19th century.
More from the Times Union (Free for CapCon Subscribers):
Efforts to conduct an accurate 2030 census taking shape
State awards $1.8M in grants for 26 projects in Hudson River communities
The Times Union Bill Tracker: Your guide to key bills on the table in this year’s legislative session, compiled by the TU’s Capitol Bureau. Find it here.