Lawmakers released three more budget bills over the weekend, although the most anticipated bill, aptly named the “Big Ugly,” is still at large.
Tucked inside the Health and Mental Hygiene budget bill is the requirement that residential health care facilities dedicate a majority of their revenue back to direct care.
The bill mandates that these facilities spend at least 70% of their revenue on direct resident care. Within this 70%, at least 40% of revenue should be spent on resident-facing staff.
This funding model has been sought after by groups like 1199SEIU, which represents 65,000 nursing home workers in New York.
New Jersey and Massachusetts are two states that already require long-term care facilities to invest a majority of their revenue to direct care.
Once voted on, this provision would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
It is still unclear when a finalized budget will be released, despite this slight progress over the weekend. Sources seemed hopeful, however, for voting to wrap up around Tuesday or Wednesday.
Sources confirmed on Saturday night, but first printed by The Wall Street Journal, that lawmakers and the governor are close to finalizing a deal when it comes to raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
The tentative deal below includes:
- New Yorkers making $1 million in annual revenue and joint filers earning more than $2 million in annual revenue would see their current state income tax rate rise from 8.82% to 9.65%
- Those making between $5-25 million in annual revenue would see their tax rate increase from 8.82% to 10.3%.
- Those making more than $25 million would see their tax rate increase to 10.9%.
The corporate tax rate would increase from 6.5% to 7.25%. Right now the proposal does exempt small businesses making less than $390,000 in gross revenue.
The manufacturing tax, according to sources, is still being negotiated as of Sunday night.
In all, sources say that about $5 billion in new revenues is expected.
This is still expected to be New York’s largest state budget in history. Sources estimate that the total state budget will most likely total more than $200 billion, also factoring in the more than $12.5 billion the state is receiving in direct aid from the federal government.
Two nuggets in the Public Protection and General Government budget bill already released:
- The “New York Medical Supplies Act” made it in. This provision would push the state to buy American-made PPE and medical supplies. It would require the state when spending over $50,000 on these items, that these supplies be made in the United States.
- Twelve-year-olds can hunt deer with a crossbow, rifle, shotgun, or muzzy-loading firearm, as long as they are accompanied by their parent or legal guardian
Another nugget in the Health and Mental Hygiene budget bill already released: A provision that allows the State Health Commissioner and the Commissioner of the Office of Addiction Services to license crisis stabilization centers throughout New York.
These crisis stabilization centers are ‘“voluntary and urgent service providers for persons at risk of a mental health or substance abuse crisis.” They provide mental health resources, detoxification, continuous observation, telemedicine, and more.
The bill also allows for police officers to bring a person who is having a mental crisis to one of these centers.