One-House Budget Proposals

Dear LiveOn NY members, advocates & partners:

Thank you for your incredible advocacy during our pilot year for the Age Strong NY campaign! We held and participated in several events in Albany and the city, we had over 100 meetings with state legislators in Albany to advance our agenda, and countless informal interactions to ensure our priorities couldn’t be ignored. All of this would not be possible without your efforts and support. 

The Senate and Assembly have released their one-house budget proposals, outlining their priorities as they enter negotiations with the Governor. While we are pleased to see several important investments, there are still areas where we need to push for stronger commitments in the final budget. It's the final week to push! Calls to action are in italic below.

Key Investments in the One-House Budgets:

  • $10 million increase for Unmet Need Services (wait list), bringing the proposal from the governor’s proposed 53m to $63 million (Senate)

  • $8.8 million increase for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP), bringing total funding to $15 million (Senate)

  • $5 million for legislative grants (Senate)

  • $5 million for Project Guardianship Hotline program, including a $1 million restoration (Senate)

    • We are glad for the $5 million but the real need- and ask- is for $15m. And there is nothing in the assembly budget. Please call your elected officials!

  • 7.8% COLA increase for human service workers (in Senate and Assembly, Assembly detail below)

  • $2 million increase for NORCs, for a total of $10.1 million (Senate)

    • Historically COLAs have not included N/NORCs and other programs. This year with the 7.8% COLA increase, the Senate addressed this, but the Assembly did not. Call your assemblymember and ask them to ensure all state-contracted human service workers are included! 

  • $1 million for MCCAP, helping more individuals enroll in Medicare (Senate)

  • $6.4 million to restore various legislative adds (Assembly)

Housing Investments in the Senate Proposal

As part of the Senate’s “City of Yes” framework, which supports increasing affordable housing, they have proposed:

  • $30 million for a new Statewide Senior Housing Program to develop senior housing outside New York City

  • $2.6 million increase for the RESTORE program, which funds home repairs for a total of $4 million

  • $4 million for a new Safer Homes for Seniors Program, supporting household repairs for low- and moderate-income seniors

Next Steps & Ongoing Advocacy

These proposals are a strong foundation, but they are not final. The Governor, Senate, and Assembly will now negotiate the final budget, and we must continue to advocate for sustained and increased investment in critical aging services. While the Senate’s proposal includes some significant increases, we need to ensure the Assembly also prioritizes these issues and that the final budget reflects the needs of older adults across the state.

We’ll keep you updated on next steps and opportunities for action. Thank you for your continued advocacy on behalf of older New Yorkers. 

With much appreciation,

Dora & the LiveOn team