The Assembly Health Committee favorably reported 31 bills at its January and February meetings. The Committee reported bills to extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers; reform the distribution of indigent care pool funds for hospitals serving low-income patients; create an emerging contaminants monitoring list in order to ensure that all water systems in New York are tested for potentially dangerous chemicals, lower lead levels in school water, and provide insurance coverage for medical marijuana.
(Albany, NY) State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, advocates, and health care provider associations gathered today to call on the Legislature to pass the “Beyond the Fourth Trimester” bill, S.7147-A/A.9156 which would extend postpartum coverage for mothers from 60 days to one year after giving birth. The bill recently passed both houses’ Health Committees and has the support of physicians, midwives, hospitals, and advocates for improving reproductive health and reducing health care racial disparities.
Assembly Health
Committee Hearing on Youth Tackle Football
Should children 12 and
under be playing tackle football? On
October 29, the Assembly Health Committee, which I chair, held a hearing in
Lower Manhattan on the health impacts of that.
There is a bill in the Assembly (A. 2692) to outlaw organized team
tackle football for children 12 and under.
The bill is sponsored by Assembly Member Michael Benedetto of the Bronx,
and I am a co-sponsor.
Following many news media
reports of cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) disproportionately
affecting professional football players and former players, many families,
physicians and researchers have been raising concerns regarding the health
effects of tackle football on children. Repeated
concussions can cause serious lifelong brain damage. The damage is greatest when players start
when their young brains are developing, and even more when play continues for
years.
Working Group Formed
to Consider Plans for Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses
Like almost all New York City
Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments, Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses
urgently need extensive and expensive work.
Because of concerns about the City’s
proposal for responding to this need, all of Chelsea’s local elected officials,
including me, called on Mayor de Blasio’s administration to put a hold on its
plans and participate in a working group with the elected officials, tenant
representatives, Community Board 4, and other advocates. We want real input from the tenants and the
community. We also stated that we will
not allow any plan that does not protect and preserve the Fulton Houses
community, with no displacement of residents from Fulton Houses or any
reduction of tenant rights or affordability.
The City agreed to put a hold on its
plans and join the working group, which is now looking at all the options for
organizing and funding the needed work.
Earlier this year, the City was developing
a plan to generate badly needed revenue to repair these public housing
developments in Chelsea. At Fulton
Houses, the City is proposing new construction, replacing some buildings,
repairs, and installing new private-sector management, to raise the funds
necessary to renovate, repair, and improve conditions at Fulton Houses and at
the nearby Elliott-Chelsea Houses. NYCHA
estimates that meeting the combined capital needs of the two developments would
cost approximately $344 million.
NYCHA’s draft plan for Fulton
entails constructing three new buildings in the complex, with tenants in two
existing buildings then moving into the first of the new buildings. The City would then replace two older,
low-rise buildings with two big new buildings.
Those buildings would be a mix of market-rate and affordable
apartments. The new income generated
would be dedicated to repairs and renovation of Fulton Houses and
Elliott-Chelsea Houses.
Under the City’s proposal, Fulton
and Chelsea-Elliott Houses would then enter the federal “Rental Assistance
Demonstration” (RAD) program, which uses Section 8 vouchers instead of
traditional public housing subsidies, and management of the complex would be
turned over to a private sector entity.
The working group held its first two
meetings in October. There will be more
meetings and public forums. We expect
the Working Group to present its proposals by year’s end.
I have serious concerns about the
City’s proposal. I am always wary of
privatization.
To raise critically needed funds for
the MTA’s capital plan, NYCHA and other programs, I am co-sponsoring several
proposals in Albany. These include
re-instating the stock transfer tax and raising the state income tax rate on
tax brackets above $1 million a year. I
also support proposals to increase corporate income taxes and to enact a
surcharge tax on so-called “pied-a-terre” luxury apartments that are not the
owner’s primary residence.
Enforcing the New
Law Against Floating Billboards
This past legislative session,
Senator Brad Hoylman and I sponsored legislation in Albany to prohibit boats
with illuminated billboards from operating in the navigable waters of the State,
such as the Hudson River. Governor Cuomo
signed our bill into law in August.
Despite the fact that it took effect immediately, Ballyhoo Media
continued to operate its “floating billboards” in New York waterways
in flagrant violation of the new law.
In September, Senator Hoylman and I
wrote to Mayor de Blasio asking that the City provide a detailed plan of how it
would enforce the law. Soon after, the
City announced that it had reached an agreement with Ballyhoo that bans it from
operating its floating billboards on any New York state waterway. The company agreed to pay $100,000 to the
City, and has since relocated its billboard boat to Florida. Now President Trump can enjoy them.
Tues., Nov. 12:
Upper Manhattan Town Hall on New York Health Act
At 6:30 p.m. on
Tuesday, November 12, I will be speaking at a Town Hall hosted by NYS Senators
Robert Jackson, on the New York Health Act, my bill that would provide
universal health care coverage in New York state by establishing an “improved
Medicare for all” single-payer health care program. The Town Hall follows up on last month’s
joint hearing on the NY Health Act, held in the Bronx by the Assembly and
Senate Health Committees.
NEW
YORK HEALTH ACT: I
co-chaired a joint hearing of the Assembly and Senate Health Committee on the
New York Health Act in the Bronx in October.
The Town Hall, which
is free and open to the public, will be at the YM/YWHA of Washington Heights
and Inwood at 54 Nagle Avenue (take the A train to 190th Street). Please RSVP by going online to
SenatorRJackson.eventbrite.com.
Wed., Nov. 20: NYCHA
Town Hall Meeting
On the evening of Wednesday,
November 20, the Manhattan delegation of the New York State Assembly is hosting
a Town Hall meeting on New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) public housing. It is free and open to the public. People will have a chance to voice their
concerns about NYCHA developments, hear from NYCHA officials on maintenance and
re-pairs, and learn how to connect with tenant lawyers.
The Town Hall meeting will be at
6:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 20 at the Boys and Girls Republic at 888 East
6th Street between Avenue D and the FDR Drive service road.
Census Job
Opportunities
Every ten years the United States
Census Bureau takes a count of every person living in the United States. It’s required by the Constitution. Getting accurate Census data in New York is
vital for ensuring that we receive our fair share of $650 billion in federal
funds for public education, public housing, infrastructure, and more — as well
as the number of seats we have in the U.S. House of Representatives. It also determines how much representation
each community has in the State Legislature and the city council.
It’s critical that every New Yorker
be counted in the 2020 Census. In the
last Census in 2010, New York City’s self-response rate was less than 62%,
significantly lower than the national 76% response rate.
There
are many jobs now available for workers to conduct the 2020 Census. To inquire about Field Representative Testing
in New York, please send an email with your name, zip code, and phone number(s)
to new.york.recruit@census.gov, or call 212-584-3495. For other questions or inquiries about Census
opportunities outside New York City, please call the New York Regional Census
Center at 212-882-7100.
Deadline to Register
to Vote for Presidential Primary
Under a new law passed by the
Legislature, you can now change your party enrollment closer to next year’s New
York presidential primary. February 14 –
Valentine’s Day – is the deadline to re-register to change which political
party you are enrolled in, or to enroll with a party for the first time, in
time to vote in New York’s April 28 presidential primary. If you are already registered at your current
address and enrolled with the party of your choice, you do not need to do
anything.
To make a change, send a Voter
Registration Form with your new choice to the board of elections office for
your borough or county. You can learn
more about registering or changing your party affiliation by going online: https://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html.
If you want to print out and mail
your voter registration form, the address for the New York County (Manhattan
& Roosevelt Island) Board of Elections is:
New York County Board of Elections
200 Varick Street – 10th Floor
New York, NY 10014
EPL/Environmental
Advocates Name Me an “Environmental Champion”
In October, EPL/Environmental
Advocates, the leading statewide organization that has advocated for stronger
environmental protections since 1969, released its 2019 Environmental
Scorecard, which grades all state legislators’ voting records on environmental
legislation.
I was proud to earn a 100% score
this year, and EPL/Environmental Advocates named me an “Environmental
Champion.” I am honored by this
recognition, and will continue working hard to earn the trust and support of
New Yorkers who believe that helping to protect and preserve our environment
remains one of government’s most critical functions.
In its “Scorecard,” which you can
find online at www.eplscorecard.org, EPL/Environmental Advocates rated
legislators on their votes on several critical bills that have now been signed
into law by Governor Cuomo. These
include the Climate Leadership and Protection Act; congestion pricing in
Manhattan; allocating $500 million for water infra-structure; a ban on
single-use plastic bags; and a bill to deny offshore drilling companies access
to state marine and coastal district lands.
Other
environmental legislation that has passed both houses of the Legislature and is
awaiting the Governor’s signature include bill to ban the dangerous pesticide
chlorpyrifos; bar the sale in New York of personal care products that contain
the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane; and The Child Safe Products Act, which requires
manufacturers to list toxic chemicals that are present in their products, as
well as begin the process of phasing them out.
The Assembly Health Committee wrapped up 2017 with 34 bills signed into law and 19 vetoed, including four which were vetoed with specific agreement for further administrative actions. Some bills were signed or vetoed based on agreements to enact changes in 2018. (A governor often raises concerns and wants changes in a bill after it has been passed by the Legislature. This usually happens after the Legislature has adjourned for the year. It is not widely known to the public, but in New York it is common for a governor to insist that the leaders of the Legislature agree to changes in a bill as a condition of the governor signing it. If the legislative leaders and the bill’s sponsors agree, the governor then signs the bill and the Legislature enacts the changes early in the following year.)
The Assembly Health Committee also held public hearings including:
Home care workforce adequacy.
Adult home oversight and funding.
Health care services in state prisons and local jails.
Nursing home quality of care and enforcement.
Water quality budget implementation.
Immigrant access to healthcare.
Below are summaries of bills acted on by the Governor as well as the public hearings.
Lawmakers and health care and education experts are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign legislation they say will ease financial burdens on school based health centers.
The legislation, sponsored in the Assembly by Richard Gottfried, D–Manhattan, and in the Senate by James Seward, R–Oneonta, would maintain the current system, by which SBHC are directly reimbursed by Medicaid which allows the clinics to keep overhead and administrative costs low.
The state Department of Health is planning to change the reimbursement system as of July 1, 2018 when SBHCs will be required to negotiate the terms and conditions of payment through managed care plans. A report by the Children’s Defense Fund found that this transition will cost SBHCs over $16 million in lost revenue. Already, SBHCs have suffered over $7 million, or nearly 30 percent in funding cuts since 2008, while their patient population has grown.
New York recently became the latest state to cover breast milk donations for babies from low-income families.
On April 9, the New York State Legislature approved the 2017-18 state budget, which includes a provision granting Medicaid coverage for donor breast milk to premature babies in the NICU. The measure received bipartisan support.
“We are putting our babies first and our legislators understand that,” executive director of the New York Milk Bank, Julie Bouchet-Horwitz, told The Huffington Post. Bouchet-Horwitz noted that “all babies, regardless of the economic status of their parents,” deserve access to pasteurized donor human milk (PDHM) when their own mothers’ milk is not available or sufficient.
As they have with several measures that have bubbled up in recent weeks, lawmakers are reviving a bill that was vetoed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year with instructions that it should be a part of the budget package.
Both GOP Sen. Kemp Hannon and Democratic Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who head their respective health committees, on Monday urged passage of a measure that would allow Medicaid to cover the cost of donated breast milk, which they said can be a life-saving nutrient to premature infants who develop necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious intestinal ailment that can hit such babies.
Albany, NY – May 23, 2016 – Today Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Health, Kemp Hannon, and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages were joined by Chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Health Richard N. Gottfried and Assembly member Steve Englebright in calling for the passage of A9353A/S.6583. This bill would ensure adequate financial support for the use of donated, pasteurized breast milk – a life-saving, cost-effective treatment for high-risk, premature infants born at less than 3 ½ pounds. If signed into law, New York will join California, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Utah and Washington D.C. in providing insurance coverage for donor human milk.
“Equal access to donor breast milk will positively impact the life chances of our state’s tiniest and most critically ill babies, said Assembly member Michaelle C. Solages.
“Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to provide a child a healthy start in life. While a mother’s own milk is the optimal nutrition for her baby, donor breast milk is the next best option for mothers who are unable to produce breast milk or infants who are unable to receive maternal breast milk. This legislation will ensure infants in need of such nourishment are able to receive donated, pasteurized breast milk.” stated Senator and Senate Health Committee Chair Kemp Hannon
“Providing Medicaid coverage of donor breast milk is a health equity issue,” said Assembly member and Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried. “More than 70% of pre-term births in New York State are covered by Medicaid,” he added.
Paige Bellenbaum, posing with her husband and two chidren, says a visit to a clinic helped her manage her own postpartum depression.
Paige Bellenbaum sat on a New York City park bench several years ago with her baby son, Max, when she saw another new mom staring adoringly at her own baby.
“And she looked at me and said, ‘Isn’t it wonderful?’” Bellenbaum said. “I looked back at her and I said, ‘No, not really, it’s actually the hardest thing I’ve ever done.’” The new mother’s smile faded as tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m so glad you said that,” she said.
Bellenbaum, who battled severe postpartum depression, said Tuesday’s announcement by a government-appointed task force, which recommends medical professionals screen women who are pregnant or who have recently given birth, was a step in the right direction in the fight to improve women’s mental health. According to the report, the 2009 task force had recommended depression screenings for all adults but had not specifically included pregnant and women who gave birth.
I represent Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown, and parts of Murray Hill and the Lincoln Center area in the State Assembly. I have been chair of the Assembly Health Committee since 1987. During off hours, I like to write Chinese calligraphy.
