NY Hospitals Get Major Concession After Big Political Donation

Last year when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) was facing a tough primary battle, his campaign asked the Greater New York Hospital Association, one of Albany’s biggest power players, representing New York City’s largest healthcare institutions, to make a big contribution to the state Democratic Party. The association obliged, writing two checks totaling over $1 million, two times more than it had donated to any political in a decade.

 

Not long afterward, despite Medicaid costs that were already soaring, the state quietly approved its first across-the-board increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates since 2008, a move the hospital association had sought for years and one that is expected to cost the state about $140 million more a year.

 

The Cuomo administration denied the two events were connected, saying the increase in the reimbursement rate had been under consideration for months before the hospital association made its donations.

 

“Yes, health care costs are increasing and that is not a news flash, but rather a well-documented national phenomenon that has nothing to do with politics, the weather or religion,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi. “The only news is how low our increases have been: 1.5 and 2 percent after flat funding for more than eight years.”

 

But Bill Hammond, director of health policy for the nonpartisan Empire Center, who noticed the state also delayed making $1.7 billion in scheduled Medicaid payments for three days to push a looming shortfall in the Medicaid budget into the subsequent budget year, said this is “everything that’s wrong with Albany in one ugly deal.”

 

“The governor was able to unilaterally direct a billion dollars to a major interest group while secretly accepting its campaign cash and papering over a massive deficit in the Medicaid program.” (NEW YORK TIMES)

 

Politics in Brief - October 14 2019

SCOTUS DECLINES TO CONSIDER WV SUPREME COURT IMPEACHMENT CASE

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of an October 2018 ruling by a specially appointed WEST VIRGINIA Supreme Court halting impeachment proceedings against four justices for alleged maladministration, corruption and neglect of duty, among other things. Consequently, the state Supreme Court’s decision that the House violated the justices right to due process by failing to adopt a formal impeachment resolution will be allowed to stand. (WEST VIRGINIA GAZETTE-MAIL [CHARLESTON])

 

WI ASSEMBLY CONSIDERS PROPOSAL TO FACILITATE VETO OVERRIDES

WISCONSIN’s GOP-controlled Assembly was expected to vote Oct. 10 on a proposal that would allow the chamber as many attempts as necessary to reach the two-thirds vote threshold required to override vetoes by Gov. Tony Evers (D). Under current law only one veto override vote is permitted. (WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO)

 

TWO MORE APPOINTEES JOIN MD LEGISLATURE

Last week MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) appointed Carl Jackson and Cathi Forbes to fill two seats in the state’s House of Delegates vacated by lawmakers who resigned to join the administration of Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. That brings the total number of appointees serving in the state’s 188-member General Assembly to 36, meaning nearly 20 percent of the Maryland’s lawmakers – including House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D), as well as the chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee and two Senate committees - were chosen by a small group of political insiders instead of elected by the state’s voters. (BALTIMORE SUN, MARYLAND MATTERS [TACOMA PARK])

 

LACK OF DIVERSITY IN TX GOP

All of TEXAS’ Republican delegates to the U.S. House could be white next year, with the only two current GOP delegates of color, U.S. Reps. Will Hurd and Bill Flores, having announced they will retire at the end of the current term. Ninety-six percent of Republicans in the state Legislature are also white, while the population of the state is only 41 percent white. (TEXAS TRIBUNE)

 

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK

Newsom Signs CA Rent Control, Housing Bills

Calling it a “a profoundly important moment,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed one package of bills last week aimed at protecting Golden State renters from excessive rent increases and unprovoked evictions and another intended to spark the building of new housing.

 

The most significant of the rent control measures – AB 1482 – caps annual rent increases to no more than 5 percent plus inflation. The law also bars landlords from kicking out tenants who have lived in their residence for at least a year unless they can show proof the tenants violated the conditions of their lease.

 

“We’re living in the wealthiest as well as the poorest state in America,” Newsom told reporters at an event to mark the signing. “Cost of living. It is the issue that defines more issues than any other issue in this state. You can’t have a homelessness conversation without having a housing conversation. You can’t have a poverty conversation without a housing conversation. You can’t have a fill in the blank, an honest conversation, unless you’re addressing this issue.”

 

The law, however, contains a number of exemptions. It will not apply to apartments built within the last 15 years or to single-family home rentals unless they’re owned by corporations or other institutional investors. The caps will also not apply to units already covered under local rent control ordinances.

 

The law drew strong resistance from landlords and property owners around the state. Many predicted landlords would raise rents significantly before the law goes into effect in January. But that could be a temporary thing – the law requires landlords to reduce rents to the rate in place on March 15 of this year, plus the allowable increase.

 

Newsom signed several other measures as well. Some of those include:

 

SB 39, which bars landlords from discriminating against tenants who receive Section 8 or other government-backed rent vouchers;

AB 1110, which requires landlords to give 90 days’ notice to a tenant before imposing rent increases of more than 10 percent; and

SB 644, which lowers the amount that a landlord can charge service members for a security deposit on residential rental housing.

 

Newsom followed that up by inking his name to 18 bills intended to address the state’s severe housing shortage. At the top of that list was SB 330, a bill that will limit the ability of cities to impose new building standards that help drive up construction costs. Other bills Newsom signed include:

 

SB 6, which requires the state to create a public inventory of local sites and surplus state lands suitable for residential development;

AB 1483, which requires local jurisdictions to publicly share information about zoning ordinances, development standards, fees, exactions, and affordability requirements; and

AB 1743, which limits the ability of local agencies to reject housing projects because they qualify for the state property tax welfare exemption.

 

All of the measures go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. (CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S OFFICE, LOS ANGELES TIMES, SACRAMENTO BEE)

DeSantis Pushes Pay Raise for FL Teachers

Citing a worsening teacher shortage, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) proposed raising the minimum annual salary for Sunshine State teachers to $47,500, up from the current $37,636. DeSantis asked lawmakers to approve his call for an additional $600 million in the state budget to pay for the increase, which would impact about 100,000 teachers across the state.

 

“With a strong economy and plenty of jobs available in other fields, unfortunately too many college graduates are unwilling to enter the teaching profession. My proposal...will help alleviate this shortage and elevate the teaching profession to the level of appreciation it deserves,” he said.

 

He called funding the hikes “easily doable.” (ASSOCIATED PRESS, SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL)

Governors in Brief - October 14 2019

BAKER PUSHES MA IMPAIRED DRIVING BILL

Responding to the state Cannabis Control Commission moving closer to allowing social consumption marijuana lounges, MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker (R) urged Bay State lawmakers to act on legislation (HB 71) he proposed earlier this year to address impaired driving. Lawmakers would still need to approve the so-called “pot lounges” before they could go into operation, but Baker said their eventual presence “underscores the reality” that weed legalization presents “new public safety challenges.” (BOSTON GLOBE, STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE [BOSTON])

 

LEE NOT READY TO IMPOSE TN VAPING BAN

Saying there is “not a lot of clear understanding yet,” in the nationwide surge in vaping-related illnesses and deaths, TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he’s not inclined to follow other governors in banning or imposing restrictions on the sale of vaping products. Lee said that without a definite answer as to what is causing the problem, a ban would not be “appropriate.” (WREG [MEMPHIS])

 

LAMONT TO INTRO NEW CT TRANSPORTATION PLAN

In the wake of his failed push for electronic toll roads, CONNECTICUT Gov. Ned Lamont (D) is preparing a new transportation proposal that will outline specific choke points that need to be fixed to help improve the state’s troubled road system. The plan will also focus on alternative transportation financing from the federal government. (HARTFORD COURANT)

 

MURPHY ANNOUNCES NJ SCHOOL LEAD TESTING EFFORT

NEW JERSEY Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced a three-pronged effort to combat lead contamination in school drinking water supplies. The plan calls for more frequent testing for lead-contaminated water, earmarking $100 million for lead pipe and faucet replacement, and creating a centralized database where parents can easily find test results. (NORTHJERSEY.COM)

 

-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN