NYS Budget Central 2011-2012

New York Budget: 2011-2012 In the first on-time agreement in five years, the New York Legislature passed the budget for the 2012 fiscal year early on March 31.

Please refer to our main advocacy pages for the roundup from each of our core areas.

Our Positions
Criminal Justice: Highlights

  • We urge lawmakers to restore both the proposed 8% cut in Gov. Cuomo’s budget and the legislative adds from the from prior years.
  • We support the governor's plan to close 10 prisons.
  • We propose limiting state agencies’ use of DCJS or OCA databases to combat the dissemination of rap sheets and arrest histories that contain incomplete or sealed information.
HIV/AIDS: Highlights

The recommendations of the Governor's cost-cutting Medicaid Redesign Team included many changes to programs that serve people living with HIV/AIDS. According to Health Department data from 2009, there are over 64,000 Medicaid recipients with HIV for whom Medicaid paid $2.36 billion, with 70% percent of that going to pharmacy, inpatient, and long-term care.

For more details, see the AIDS Advisory Council analysis of the MRT's proposals, which were largely accepted in the final budget.

Alcohol and Drug Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery: Highlights

Medicaid: We commend Governor Andrew Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team for a plan that will not only save the state large sums of money but also improve the health of many thousands of New Yorkers by strengthening the delivery and coordination of services for people with or at risk for alcohol and drug problems.

Budget: We join our partners at the Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, in asking the Legislature to:

  • Increase the Managed Addiction Treatment Services (MATS) caseload an additional 750 beyond what the governor and Assembly have in their budgets (2250), creating savings of $10 million or more that could be used to:
    1. Restore the $2.5 million cut to problem gambling prevention services.
    2. Eliminate the Senate proposed $5 million cut to the Personal Needs Allowance for clients in OASAS-licensed residential facilities.
    3. Allocate $500,000 for training to ensure that proposed increased utilization of Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is successful in generating savings for the state.
  • Create a Behavioral Health Organization carve-out developed and monitored by OASAS and OMH that includes:
    1. Strict standards for managing SUD and mental health care regarding patient admission criteria, establishment of medical necessity, and utilization review.
    2. Care management for individuals in need of SUD services that is administered by OASAS, guided by the strict standards referenced above.
    3. Services to participants pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, provided that such services are within such provider's or plan's benefit package and are reimbursable under title XIX of the Federal Social Security Act. Furthermore, we ask that all the provisions in Section 364-j of the New York State Social Services Law that protect consumers and ensure access to quality care be incorporated into the behavioral health managed care bill.
    4. A provision that all OASAS-licensed providers are included on the BHO provider panels to ensure that an individual’s access to care is not limited.
Follow this link to see ASAP's full budget recommendations to the Legislature.

News and Media

Budget Is Passed, March 31:

Background:

Advocacy and Events

Resources

Budget Advocacy in Previous Years: 2010-2011