Legislative Roundup

August 1, 2006

Author: Kristin Brown Lilley

This year, Empire Justice developed our most comprehensive legislative agenda to date.  The combined expertise of GULP and PILOR allowed us to focus on a broad array of legislative initiatives all aimed at improving the lives of civil legal services clients.  With such an extensive agenda, it was a very busy year.  Empire Justice staff testified at close to a dozen hearings, analyzed many dozens of bills and wrote legislative memorandums on close to twenty five of them, and responded to countless requests for information from legislative staff, advocates and the media.  We worked closely with members of our communities and collaborated extensively with the many coalitions we belong to.

While we continue to tangle with a number of outstanding budget issues, including restoration of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding for both the Disability Advocacy Program (DAP) and the Supplemental Homelessness Intervention Program (SHIP) and the distribution of the Legal Services Assistance Fund (LSAF), a number of important issues have been resolved.  Below is a summary of where we landed on our pro-active priorities, along with information on some of the other issues we worked on during the 2006 legislative session.   

Empire Justice Top Priorities:

Restore The Civil Legal Services State Appropriation (Budget)  Once again, Empire Justice helped lead the community’s efforts to restore and expand state funding for civil legal services.  We testified at both the Human Services and the Public Protection Budget Hearings about the need for an increased investment in civil legal services, we developed materials and talking points that reflected the strategies we formulated with our colleagues in New York City, we coordinated 8 regional lobby days and we held bi-weekly informational calls for Program Directors outside New York City to give them the latest news on what was happening with state funding.

As a result of these efforts:

State Appropriation Restored, Vetoed and Restored Again:  Thanks to the efforts of legal services programs across the state and the Assembly Majority’s commitment to our cause, during the first round of budget negotiations, the $4.6 million state appropriation for civil legal services, which includes $359,000 to provide legal assistance to victims of domestic violence (DV) was restored by the Assembly Majority and included in the “on time budget” that passed this year.  Unfortunately, on April 11th, the Governor issued a series of vetoes, including a veto of this critical funding.  In his veto message regarding the civil legal services funding, the Governor noted that he had vetoed this appropriation because, along with “numerous items that, in the aggregate, [it] will adversely impact the state’s capacity to maintain a properly balanced budget, provide for adequate fiscal reserves and ensure manageable out-year budget gaps.” 

The New York State Bar Association, a long-time supporter of civil legal services whose President had testified in support of expanded state funding during the budget hearings, responded to the veto by activating an electronic alert system to its membership.  In less than 2 days, over 1500 Bar members had written to their legislators urging an override This, along with the ongoing efforts of the civil legal services community helped make the unanimous over-ride of the civil legal services veto possible in both the Senate and the Assembly. 

Senate Makes New DV Funding Available: For years, Empire Justice and our partners have been urging the Senate join with the Assembly to create a more robust civil legal services infrastructure.  Each year, we’ve completed the legislative session feeling that we have made  progress – by gaining new supporters and solidifying our relationships with those who already “get” why civil legal services are so critical.  This year, we were extremely pleased to learn that the Senate Majority was reviewing a funding source that would allow them to invest in the provision of legal assistance to victims of domestic violence (DV).  While we had pushed for the creation of a statewide program that would ensure that at least some legal assistance would be available to DV victims in every county, we are still pleased to  report that the Senate set aside $1 million in the Crime Victims Board, to be transferred to the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) for the provision of DV services.  

Assembly Increases Its Investment In DV Legal Services:  In addition to the state appropriation noted above, the Assembly Majority allocated an additional $250,000 in the Crime Victims Board budget for DV legal services.

Legal Services Assistance Fund (LSAF) - In The Budget, But Still Not Clear How Much Will Go To Civil Legal Services:   Last year, the Legal Services Assistance Fund made it possible for the Assembly Majority to provide the community with the first increase in State Funding since 2001.  Approximately $2 million was allocated to programs across the state.  This year, the Governor included the LSAF in his Executive Budget, allocating $3 million to the Senate and   $3 million to the Assembly.  He also proposed a number of changes that were ultimately rejected.  We understand that the Senate plans to continue to use its funding for the District Attorney loan forgiveness program.  As we go to print, it remains unclear how much of the Assembly’s portion will go toward civil legal services.  We continue to urge the Assembly to allocate the full $3 million to civil legal services programs. 

Maintain And Increase New York’s Investment In The Disability Advocacy Program (DAP) – (Budget) While we were pleased that the $5.74 million base appropriation for DAP was included in the Executive Budget, we were very disappointed that the Governor did not include an increase in funding or the $ 1 million in TANF funding that has been added to the budget by the legislature for the past several years.  Throughout the legislative session, we had advocated for an overall increase of $3 million to help address the loss in purchasing power the program has suffered as a result of so many years of stagnant funding. 

At the conclusion of the Legislative Joint  Budget Conference Committee negotiations, both houses of the legislature agreed to restore $1 million in TANF funding for DAP, along with line item allocations of approximately $100 million in TANF funding.  However, because of last year’s Court of Appeals decision, the Legislature could not restore the funding without the Governor’s agreement.  Unfortunately, the Governor was not willing to make the changes.  As a consequence, the budget was passed without the additional TANF funding.  After the Governor vetoed over 200 items in the budget and the legislature over-rode most of those vetoes, he announced that rather than negotiating with the Legislature, he was going to almost double last year’s flexible fund block grant, which resulted in over $1 billion going to local social services districts.  He withheld approximately $100 million, presumably to negotiate with the Legislature for restoration of a number of state-level TANF funded programs, including DAP, SHIP, displaced homemakers, emergency homeless, supportive housing, migrant child care and SUNY/CUNY child care. 

As it stands now, the Legislature is expected to return to Albany this fall to deal with TANF and other outstanding issues. 

Help New Yorkers Halt The Growing Burden Of Medical Debt By Increasing Access To Charity Care – (A.2519/S.4347, A.2520, A.2521)  In January 2006 Empire Justice released In Sickness and in Debt, a report summarizing our analysis of the impact of medical debt on bankruptcies in a number of upstate counties.  The report added to the  previous research other organizations such as Citizen Action and the Legal Aid Society of New York City had published on the Medical Debt and access to Charity Care.  Our report helped put a face on the issue, created additional media coverage and put pressure on lawmakers to address problems with the way hospitals spend Bad Debt and Charity Care/Indigent Care funds.  We supported three bills by Assembly Insurance Committee Chair, Pete Grannis’ bills, (one of which was co-sponsored in the Senate by Senator George Maziarz) but the issue was ultimately resolved in the midst of budget negotiations.  Empire Justice is pleased to report that Assemblymember Grannis negotiated a very strong agreement that includes a number of critical reforms.  For more details about this exciting victory and how the new law will affect your clients see   New Protection from Medical Debt on page 30 of this journal.

Stop Insurance Redlining – In May of 2005, Empire Justice (then PILOR) released The Homeowner’s Insurance Gap:  How Race and Neighborhood Composition Explain Cost and Access Disparities in Rochester and Monroe County, NY.  The report analyzed how experiences with homeowners insurance varied between low income and minority neighborhoods and higher income and non-minority neighborhoods and whether income or minority status affected cost and comprehensiveness of policies.  The study found that indeed, among those individuals we surveyed, homeowners who lived in lower income or minority neighborhoods paid higher premiums, had less comprehensive coverage and had their claims settled less quickly than those in higher income or non-minority areas.  We found that minority homeowners also paid more, got less and were served in a less responsive manner than non-Hispanic white homeowners.  While the report helped draw attention to the issue and certainly raised red flags, we realized that we needed more information to see if what we found in Rochester is happening across the state.  To do this, in late 2005, we began working with Assemblymember Grannis’ office to draft legislation, (A.11512) based on the federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) which would increase the amount of information insurance companies are required to report to the State on the issuance and pricing of homeowners’ insurance policies.  The availability of this data would allow the State and interested advocates to analyze the data and then work with insurance companies to address any disparities in an effort to move toward access to quality, affordable insurance for all New Yorkers.  This approach has been very successful with mortgage lending via HMDA – and with residential property insurance in other states such as Massachusetts, where public data disclosure on insurance has helped increase homeownership and access to private market insurance. 

In June of 2006, Assemblymembers Pete Grannis, David Gantt and Susan John, held a public hearing in Rochester to hear people’s thoughts, ideas and recommendations for both the insurance data disclosure bill (A.11512) and the I-FUND bill (A.7537/S7362), which would create a program similar to the federal Community Reinvestment Act for insurance companies.  The hearing was very successful, with an array of testimonies, from a local homeowner, to neighborhood groups, to city representatives and advocacy organizations.  

We are pleased to report that the data disclosure bill, introduced by Assemblymembers Grannis and Gantt, has 29 co-sponsors and passed the Assembly unanimously.  We are hopeful that we will be able to find a Senate sponsor and get the legislation passed next year.  The I-FUND bill, which Empire Justice also supports, made it to third reading, but did not get to the floor for a vote in the Assembly and died in the Insurance Committee in the Senate.

Empire Justice is continuing to collect stories about homeowners’ insurance issues from across the state to educate the state legislature and consumers about property insurance issues. Please contact Barbara van Kerkhove at (585)295-5815 with any problems or concerns you or your clients have encountered.
 
End Childhood Lead Poisoning In New York State – (A.4201/S.2513) Empire Justice worked doggedly with the Coalition to End Lead Poisoning in NYS to push this legislation which would strengthen protections for residents and homeowners and would create tax credits for making homes lead safe.  While a number of amendments were made to the bill to allow it to move forward, ultimately there was not enough time for this comprehensive legislation to pass both houses, despite the efforts of both the advocates and the bill’s sponsors.  (For more details on the legislation see Lead Poisoning Legislation Poised for Consideration Next Year, on page 27 of this journal).  We are hopeful that we will be able to iron out the remaining issues and get this important legislation passed next year so we can stop NY’s children from being poisoned unnecessarily.

Other Agenda Items:

Stop Financially Strapped Homeowners From Losing Their Homes To Unscrupulous “Investors” – (A.7667/ S.4744)  Over the past two years, Empire Justice worked closely with members of New Yorkers for Responsible Lending (NYRL) to draft legislation that would help stop “foreclosure rescue scams” (for more information on the bill, see New York State Passes the “Home Equity Theft Prevention Act” on page 17 of this journal).  Empire Justice, NYRL members and homeowners who had lost their homes to these scams testified at a hearing held by the Banking Committee last year.  This year, the sponsors made a number of amendments to the bill, which ultimately allowed the State Banking Department to support the legislation.  We are very pleased to report that this important legislation passed both houses unanimously at the end of the legislative session and was signed into law by Governor Pataki on July 26, 2006.  The new law will go into effect February 1, 2007.

Ensure That Lower Income New Yorkers Don’t Go Into Debt Heating Their Homes – (Budget) Empire Justice joined other advocacy organizations, including Statewide Senior Action, PULP and AARP in support of a proposal to provide a state supplement to the Home Energy Heating Assistance Program (HEAP) to help address the massive increase in heating costs this past winter.  In January of 2006 the state allocated an additional $100 million in state funding to the HEAP program. 

In February of 2006 Empire Justice presented testimony to the Assembly Standing Committee on Energy and the Assembly Committees on Social Services and Aging on the implementation and effectiveness of New York’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.  Our testimony focused on encouraging the State to increase the fuel for heating allowance for public assistance recipients.  While costs vary by type of fuel and region, we were able to estimate that in one region oil costs have increased 262% since the allowance was last adjusted. (full analysis available at: /policy-advocacy/testimony/06-heap-testimony.html)  Our testimony also encouraged the State to help public assistance households deal with the debt that they incur as a result of the woefully inadequate heating allowance.  Unfortunately, neither of these proposals were successful. 

Ensure Access To Childcare Does Not Depend On Where Families Live - (A.1266) Empire Justice strongly supports this legislation, which would limit child care co-payments to 10% of household income and eliminate co-payments for those with incomes below poverty in every area of New York State.  While this legislation did not move this year, we are hopeful that we’ll see the issue addressed next year.  To help inform the community about this important issue, Empire Justice updated our chart which shows the co-payment variations across the state (available at: /assets/pdf/2006-co-pay-disparities-chart.pdf)

Other Issues Empire Justice Produced Legislative Memorandums On That Were Not On Our Agenda, None Of which passed both houses of the legislature:

• Protecting victims of domestic violence and stalking from housing discrimination (S.4112-B/A.6282-B)
• Protecting the homes of welfare recipients by eliminating the authority for social service districts to put a lien on homes as a condition of eligibility for public assistance (A.5446)
• Helping to ensure low income elderly New Yorkers can afford their medication by extending the $200 co-payment cap on prescription drugs provided under Medicaid to individuals who are eligible for Medicaid and Medicare (dual eligible) and receive prescription drug benefits under Medicare Part D. (A.11377)
• Limiting the recovery of confinement costs to ensure that local districts are not taking money away from low income households (A.2671)
• Creating an unpaid advisory committee of child care providers within the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) for the purpose of identifying and reviewing child care issues, changes to child care policies, providing recommendations about protection of children in day care, and recommending improvements to the child care subsidy system.  (A.11130A/S.7901A )
• Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of child care providers and their clients by prohibiting OCFS from posting a child care provider’s address or a map to their location on the internet without allowing the provider to opt-out. (A.11131)
• Creating a loan forgiveness program for child care providers modeled after the physician loan forgiveness program. (A.2380A)