CSEA Legislative and Political Action Department. Summary of Final FY State Budget

Transcription

1 CSEA Legislative and Political Action Department SUNY Health Science Centers SUNY DOWNSTATE (BROOKLYN) Summary of Final FY State Budget Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of this budget was the Governor s resistance to support efforts to pull SUNY downstate out of fiscal danger and provide funding for its future. Instead, the Assembly and Senate had to settle for a plan which keeps this issue alive for the time being. This means this issue is far from over and the fight will continue. The final budget language requires the Chancellor of SUNY to submit a fiscal viability plan to the Governor, Assembly and Senate by June 1, 2013.The plan will be subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of the Budget and the Commissioner of the Department of Health and must set forth recommendations for the restructuring of the hospital for the purpose of achieving fiscal stability while still preserving its public mission as a teaching hospital. The chancellor shall consult with labor representatives, community representatives and other regional stakeholders in the development of the plan. The language provides SUNY Downstate with flexibility to enter into contracts without a competitive bid or request for proposals for goods and supplies, revenue collections, billing services, electronic and medical health records, and clinical services provided these contracts do not change the scope or nature of the character of downstate as a public hospital. The contracting for clinical services shall be limited to 15 percent but includes a provision under which the Commissioner of the Department of Health can allow up to 20 percent. There is a procedure for a mini bid for these goods and services contracts which require SUNY Downstate to publish a description on its web site setting forth the particulars of the work to be performed. The selection process is only 15 days.

2 The final legislation does allow SUNY downstate to seek intergovernmental transfers from the federal government of 100 million dollars. It is our intention to be actively involved in the preparation of this plan and to continue to work with community groups and the Brooklyn delegation to make sure any plan addresses our concerns. It is also our intention to seek funds for some parts of this plan as laid out in the Assembly one-house bill. While the Governor was handing out money to the Buffalo Bills and the Tonight Show, he shows no concern for SUNY Downstate which serves a minority population that is predominately Medicaid clients. SUNY Hospitals The Governor provided a $60 million subsidy for SUNY Hospitals. The legislature restored additional support of $27.8 million to provide total funding of $87.8 million for the SFY Office of Mental Health Governor Cuomo s Executive Budget proposal called for notwithstanding the statutory 12 month notice to affected local governments, employees, and employee organizations prior to the closure or substantial reduction in services of an OMH facility. The Legislature rejected the Governor s plan and one year notification is maintained. The Legislature also rejected the Governor s plan to give the Commissioner of OMH sole discretion to transfer, consolidate, close, reduce, right size, reconfigure or otherwise redesign the services of hospitals, facilities, and programs operated by OMH, and to implement significant service reductions as the commissioner deems fit. The budget provides for a single appointing authority in the Office of Mental Health. It does not alter any geographically discrete layoff unit structures. Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) This year s Executive budget proposed expanding the Close to Home initiative and would have resulted in the closure of all OCFS non-secure juvenile facilities. These nonsecure facilities would have been closed with only 60 days notice rather than the legally required 1 year notification. The facilities that would have been closed were Red Hook Residential Facility (Dutchess County), Brentwood Residential Facility (Suffolk County), Lansing Residential Facility (Tompkins County), and Middletown Residential Facility (Orange County). In addition to the youths who would lose needed services, these

3 closures would have affected hundreds of workers, their families, and the economy of the host communities involved. The Legislature rejected the expansion of the Close to Home initiative, preserved the one-year downsizing and closure notification and the measure was removed from the budget. Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) Because of the loss of $1.1 billion in federal funds from the State s overbilling for Medicaid, the Governor s budget called for a $120 million cut to OPWDD service providers. Legislators were only able to restore $30 million to providers but provided language that would allow more money to be restored if additional funds from the federal government become available. Negotiations between the Governor s Office and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services continue in hopes of finding additional funding. Due to Olmstead Implementation (a United States Supreme Court decision that the unjustified institutionalization of people is a form of discrimination), New York State is committed to reducing the number of individuals with developmental disabilities that are in institutions and ending what they believe to be unnecessary institutionalization. The budget supports ongoing plans to downsize institutional programs by including resources to fund more community services. The People First Waiver will establish a program for developing a care coordination model which integrates various long term habitation supports and/or health care through the creation of community-based services provided by a network of non-profit providers referred to as a DISCO Developmental Disabilities Individual Support and Care Coordination Organization. Demonstration projects will begin in July 2013 and developmentally disabled individuals can voluntarily enroll. Beginning in November 2015, participation is expected to become mandatory. OPWDD has stated that state operations will not be included in the pilot phase, but will eventually be included. There was nothing in Governor Cuomo's original proposal regarding state operated programs, but CSEA successfully lobbied to get language that includes state operated programs under the services available under a DISCO in the final budget. Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Bayview Correctional and Beacon Correctional Facilities will be closed with a minimum of 60 days notice instead of the currently mandated one-year notification.

4 Higher Education Community Colleges The Governor s Executive Budget proposal called for changing the funding system for community colleges to a competitive program that would tie the distribution of funds to a job linkage incentive program. The Legislature rejected the Governor s plan and increased community college base aid by $150 per full-time equivalent (FTE) student. The budget amends Governor Cuomo s proposed Next Generation NY Job Linkage Program for community colleges to incentivize job creation rather than punish institutions for factors that may be out of their control. The agreement keeps the incentive fund that will award community colleges that prepare students for job opportunities by partnering with employers but rejects the Governor s proposal to tie base community college aid to the program. In order to receive money from the job creation incentive fund, each program that confers a credit-bearing certificate, an Associate of Occupational Studies degree, or an Associate of Applied Science degree would be required to demonstrate that it is preparing students for job opportunities by partnering with employers in the area beginning in fiscal year and thereafter. These opportunities would include: A partnership between the community college and one or more employers to train and employ students in a specific occupation; An advisory committee made up of employers in the region to advise the community college on the program's curriculum, recruitment, placement and evaluation; High-tech sector programs. Education The budget increases education aid by about $1 billion to a total of $21 billion after legislators added $290 million to Governor Cuomo s original proposal. Funding for education is tied to the implementation of a teacher evaluation system. The budget makes it clear that all evaluation systems currently in place will remain in effect unless changes are agreed to by the district and local bargaining unit. Additionally, the legislation gives districts that have failed to implement an evaluation system until May 29, 2013 to reach an agreement, or State Education Commissioner John King will act as the arbitrator in a one-time binding arbitration process to impose a system on the district.

5 Additional funding will be provided for pre-kindergarten programs, targeted toward higher need students in lower wealth school districts via a competitive process. The state attempts to incentivize school districts to implement extended day or extended school year programs by providing funds in this budget to cover the full cost of expanding learning time for students. Schools will have to expand learning time by at least 25 percent to be eligible for the funding. Teacher certification standards will be increased through expanded student-teaching requirements and the passage of a teacher bar exam. The budget supports a program designed to transform schools into community hubs where academic, health, mental health, nutrition, counseling, legal, and other services will be made available to support students and their families. A district-by-district breakdown of school aid is available here: Budget.pdf Health Care The Governor's original budget proposal would have introduced, for the first time in the history of the State, for-profit hospitals. His proposal would have allowed two for-profit corporations to operate hospitals, including one that would take over SUNY Downstate. The Assembly rejected the proposal in their one-house budget while the Senate increased the number of for-profit entities from two to ten. The final budget rejected allowing for-profit hospitals to operate in the State. Automatic 2% Medicaid cuts to providers will be extended for two years. Department of Health superpowers to cut Medicaid extended for two years. Local Governments Governor Cuomo proposed a zero percent increase in Aid and Incentives for Municipalities (AIM) funding over last year. Both houses of the Legislature proposed an increase in funding in their one-house proposals, however, there was no increase in funding in the final budget. Last year's budget contained a state takeover of the growth in the cost of Medicaid for counties. Under that proposal Counties would have a cap placed on their financial contribution to the Medicaid program starting in This year's budget allows the

6 State to accelerate this takeover of growth as a result of an increase in the state's Medicaid reimbursement from the federal government. Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) money for host communities is increased from 45% to 55%. The budget includes $75 million increased funding for the CHIPS program, the first increase since the Budget. A county-by-county breakdown of CHIPS funding is available here: Libraries The budget provides for a $4 million increase in funding for public libraries. Design-Build The legislature rejected allowing state agencies to participate in design-build contracts and design-build-finance contracts. The Governor s plan would have allowed private financing for public assets without providing language as to who would control, maintain, and operate facilities once a project is completed. Child Care/VOICE Facilitated enrollment funding is increased by $6 million. An additional $1 million is provided for child care subsidies. The final budget contains $10.6 million for VOICE members to purchase health insurance through the State Health Insurance Exchange starting in Taxes The Millionaire s Tax will be extended for another three years. Families earning between $40,000 and $300,000 with dependent children up to age 18 will be eligible for a $350 annual tax credit for three years beginning in October 2014.

7 Pension Smoothing This bill would allow a city, town, village, school district, Westchester Medical Center, Nassau University Medical Center, Erie County Medical Center, or BOCES to amortize a portion of their employer pension contributions. The alternative amortization program would allow employers to pay a graded rate of 12% for employers in the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System (ERS), 20% for employers in the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), and 14% for employers in the Teacher s Retirement System (TRS) for contributions payable in fiscal years ending 2014 and For employers in ERS and PFRS, the graded rate will move toward the actuarially required rate by no more than 0.5% per year from the prior year's graded rate. Electing employers must amortize contributions with interest over a 12 year period. For employers in the TRS, contributions will be between 14 and 18 percent over the course of 7 years. Employers will resume actuarially required payments in the eighth year. Unemployment Reform The budget provides for gradual benefit increases reaching 50% of the average weekly wage by 2026, up from the current $405 weekly max. After 2026, benefits will be indexed to be automatically adjusted to 50% of the average annual wage. Additionally, the minimum benefit will increase from $64 weekly to $100 weekly. Minimum Wage New York s $7.25 minimum wage will be increased in three stages, reaching $9.00 an hour by Starting on December 31 - $8.00/hr. On December 31, $8.75/hr. Finally, on December 31, $9.00/hr. The budget does not provide any indexation of the minimum wage in future years but does provide an extremely flawed Minimum Wage Reimbursement Tax Credit.

8 The tax credit will reimburse employers for most of the increase in the minimum wage if they hire workers between the ages of 16 and 19. Reimbursement will only be available for employees who are paid exactly the minimum wage, discouraging employers from giving raises. The program creates an incentive for companies to fire older and more experienced employees who are paid a higher wage and replace them with young people that will be paid the lowest wage possible. This program will blunt the positive economic impact of increasing the minimum wage. Veterans Issues The budget contains a tax incentive for businesses that hire military veterans. The Hire a Vet program offers a tax credit for hiring honorably discharged active duty military veterans. The credit will equal: 10% of wages paid to a veteran, up to a maximum of $5,000; or 15% of wages paid to a disabled veteran, up to a $15,000 maximum. In order for businesses to qualify for the credit, the veteran must work more than 35 hours per week and must be employed for at least one year. This program goes into January 1, Other Issues The budget allows for some DMV offices to open on Saturdays. License exemptions for certain social work and mental health professional licensure requirements are extended until Eliminates the 1.4% Human Services Cost of Living Adjustment to providers for The COLA goes to non-profit providers of various human service programs within OCFS, OMH and OPWDD. The Budget includes a third round of the Regional Economic Development Councils including $150 million in new funding and $70 million in tax credits.