Policy updates & resources
Every two weeks, LiveOn NY distributes a policy update collecting updates on federal, state, and city aging policy. See below for our latest policy update.
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Biweekly Policy Updates: 5/22/26
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Have an important aging update for our next policy update? Contact Frank McMullin, Communications Manager at LiveOn NY at fmcmullin@liveon-ny.org.
Updates from LiveOn NY
NYC Executive Budget: The NYC Executive Budget does not go far enough to meet the needs of rapidly-aging New Yorkers. See LiveOn NY’s statement in response here.
June 4 Age Strong NY State & City Policy Update Webinar: Join LiveOn NY for an advocacy update webinar for nonprofit organizations serving older adults across New York State. This conversation will cover the recently enacted state budget, the remainder of the legislative session, current advocacy priorities through the Age Strong New York campaign, and what to expect as we begin planning for next year. Click here to register.
Thank you for attending our Advocacy Day! Hundreds of older New Yorkers and advocates came to join us to call for fully-funded aging services to meet New York’s growing demand. We were joined by Aging Chair Susan Zhuang and Councilmembers Hanif, Ung, Wong, Restler, Banks, Epstein, Won, and Hudson. See our press release here and coverage on Sing Tao.
Federal Updates
SNAP Participation Falls 9%: The Center on Budget and Policy Prioritiesreports that SNAP participation fell by nearly 9% nationwide (3.5 million people) since the passage of H.R.1. Click herefor more.
Support WIC: Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)is circulating a sign-on letter for organizations to advocate for full funding and modernization of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program for FY27. Click hereto read more and sign on.
Older Adults Missing Out on Benefits: The National Council on Aging (NCOA) reports in its updated Benefits Participation Mapthat 9 million older adults are missing out on $58 billion in benefits programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicare Savings Program (MSP), that can help them pay for food, medicine, and other daily costs, according to an update from(NCOA) recently updated its interactive. Click hereto read more.
As reported from our partners at the Medicare Rights Center, this week the Supreme Court rejected appeals from pharmaceutical companies challenging the Medicare drug price negotiation program established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Click here for more.
SSA Medicare Billing Errors Identified: The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently notified advocates of a systemic error where hundreds of thousands of retirees were improperly billed for Medicare premiums that had already been deducted from their Social Security checks. The SSA is working to issue refunds, but advocates recommend that enrollees check their May 2026 statements. The Medicare Rights Center has resources here to appeal for enrollees who may be affected here.
Social Security Benefits At Risk: A new proposed rule change could kick almost 400,000 Social Security recipients out of the program. The proposal would impose a limit on which types of benefits can be counted toward public income maintenance (PIM) payments, including rescinding SNAP from the list of qualifying PIMs. This change would dramatically impact recipients living with family or friends, especially those who receive benefits as part of a disability or diagnosis. The rule change has been submitted by the Social Security Administration and is currently under review. More on Parade.
DHS Proposal Harms Older Immigrants: DHS has recently posted a notice of a proposal to change the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (USCIS’s) change of address form. This proposal would add questions about immigrants’ uses of public benefits and require reporting of work and school addresses, which can then be used to create the legal grounds for deportation. Our partners at Justice in Aging are calling on aging advocates to protest the bill’s harm. More on Justice in Aging.
State Updates
State Budget Update: On Wednesday, May 20, the Assembly, Senate, and Governor Kathy Hochul reached a conceptual agreement on the FY 2027 New York State Budget. Final budget bills are still being drafted and negotiated, but several broad policy priorities have emerged from the agreement. Notably, the budget framework includes long-overdue reforms to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR/SEQRA). LiveOn NY fiercely advocated for these necessary changes to streamline the construction of housing including affordable and supportive housing developments that are critical to helping older adults age safely and affordably in their communities.
As final budget language is released, LiveOn NY is closely monitoring several key aging-related priorities, including:
N/NORC funding
Unmet need funding for Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs)
SCRIE/DRIE eligibility expansions and additional proposals to simplify and improve access to the programs
Guardianship funding
Resident Assistance funding
Several other provisions in the conceptual agreement may also have meaningful implications for older New Yorkers and caregivers across the state, including a $1 billion energy affordability rebate and new utility consumer protections aimed at controlling rising energy costs, some additional capital funding for affordable housing construction, and $1 billion in additional funding for Safety Net Hospitals.
Implementing bills have been slowly coming out of the Legislature; LiveOn NY is monitoring and will continue reviewing the final budget language closely as it unfolds, and will provide additional analysis and advocacy updates as more details become available.
The budget bills and the impact will be covered in detail in our advocacy update webinar on June 4 at 11am. Click hereto register.
Legislative Session Advocacy: Outside of the Age Strong NY state budget advocacy, LiveOn NY advocates for a list of policy priorities to fight for the New York we deserve to age in. See a list of these policy priorities here. Currently the SCRIE bills are not on this list, as we are waiting to understand what impact the budget will have.
JustPay Rally: 300 human services workers from over 115 nonprofits rallied in Albany, holding 70 meetings with legislators. The campaign successfully lobbied for a 4% investment in a Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII) for State human services programs in the State Legislature’s budget proposal. Learn more about the JustPay campaign here.
Advocacy Leadership Accelerator: Our partners at the Advocacy Institute are taking applications for their Advocacy Leadership Accelerator, which is a 10-month program expanding advocacy skills, strategic thinking, and peer networks for up to 20 emerging organizers and advocates across New York State. Applications can be found here.
City Updates
NYC Executive Budget Update: The Mamdani Administration released the FY27 NYC Executive Budget on 5/12. See LiveOn NY’s statement in response to the budget here. We continue to closely review budget details. There appear to be some cuts, and we are currently investigating their potential impact. We have been notified that there have been vacancy reductions, which means removing “unused” staff positions at NYC Aging, and the removal of certain pilot programs from the last administration. We are still in the process of understanding the scope of the pilot reduction and our advocacy remains focused on funding the pillars of the Age Strong NYC campaign.
Advocacy Day: Our 31st annual Advocacy Day was an incredible success thanks to the participation of our members! We had over 500 advocates making their voices heard to call to make sure we Age Strong in New York! Speakers from all over the city and elected officials raised their voices to call on the Mayor to invest in the aging services system. See our press release here and coverage on Sing Tao Daily.
NYC Department for the Aging (NYC Aging) released a new report this week titled What The Data Demands: Findings from Older New Yorkers’ Experiences of Safety, Crime, and Abuse. This report is the first issue paper in an upcoming series highlighting data collected in NYC Aging’s recent Service Needs Assessment (SNA). Click here for more info and to read the report.
NYCAging Executive Budget Hearing: The New York City Council Aging Executive Budget hearing will be on Tuesday May 26th. The policy of the Council this year is not open to public testimony. There will be one day of public testimony on 6/10 for all of the budget hearings. LiveOn NY will be drafting and submitting written testimony and will be circulating a draft for our members to use as they draft their own. You can register to submit testimony here.
Funding for Infrastructure Projects: Last year, LiveOn NY successfully advocated for City Council to fund a brand new $5 million dollar expense fund to repair older adult centers in need of urgent infrastructure updates - funding has been allocated to organizations who are starting their projects. We are currently advocating that the City Council reauthorize additional funding and potentially increase the pot to $10 million dollars in the current budget for more projects. To continue to fuel our advocacy, we need to collect basic information from our network to show the city the need for funding. This is the same tracker as last year so if you have projects submitted that have not been funded please do not resubmit, only submit new projects. SUBMIT HERE.
JustPay Rally: On May 14, 2,000 advocates from 90+ nonprofits rallied with the #Just Pay Campaign to close the pay gap and pay nonprofit workers equal wages for equal work. The rally was in support of Int 0452, which creates a new wage requirement system aligning nonprofit and City job titles and salaries. The Just Pay campaign is working to continue to secure co-sponsors for the bill. More from our partners at HSC.
Pension Payment Analysis:The Fiscal Policy Institute recently released a fiscal analysis on The Proposed Restructuring of New York City Pension Payments.More information here.
Resources
FPWA: FY27 NYC Preliminary Budget Analysis and Impact on Communities
NY Health Foundation Report: Understanding the SNAP Participation Gap in New York
Blog: Why the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Asset Limit Must Go
Issue Brief: Access to Home and Community-Based Services for People with Disabilities Leaving Incarceration: Barriers and Policy Priorities
Issue Brief: Policy Reforms to Better Connect Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities to SSI and Other Benefits
Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center Article: How NYC Households are Navigating SNAP Benefit Losses in 2026
Upcoming Events
LiveOn NY Events & Trainings:
6/4: Age Strong NY State & City Policy Update Webinar: Join LiveOn NY for an advocacy update webinar for nonprofit organizations serving older adults across New York State. Click hereto register.
6/16 and 6/25: LiveOn NY’s New Older Adult Center Directors Training: This wildly popular 2-day training (Day 1 virtual, Day 2 in-person) is designed for older adult center/NORC directors with 0-5 years experience. Space is limited – register here.
Partner Events:
5/26/26-5/29/26: National Council on Aging (NCOA) Age+Action 2026 Conference (info here) and Hill Day 2026 (info here).
5/27/26: SPOP Aspirational Aging: Addressing Ageism in Our Work Webinar. Register here.
6/9/26: Justice in Aging: Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) Basics. Webinar, register here.
6/10/26: Human Services Council (HSC): Rights, Risks & Readiness: Nonprofit Guidance for Protests and Enforcement Interactions. Webinar, register here.
6/11/26: NYN Media: Nonprofit OpCon, Streamlining Processes for Nonprofits. In-person, register here.
6/11/26: Lawyers Alliance for New York Webinars for Wise Nonprofits: Becoming a Nonprofit: Incorporation and Tax Exemption, register here.
6/16/26: Brooklyn Org: Brooklyn Org 2026 Nonprofit Conference: Communicating with Clarity. Register here.
6/18/26: New York State Supportive Housing Conference: 24th Annual New York Supportive Housing Conference. Register here.
6/23/26: Lawyers Alliance for New York Webinars for Wise Nonprofits: Nonprofit Boards of Directors: Responsibilities and Best Practices, register here.
6/23-6/24: Association on Aging in New York Aging Concerns Unite Us (ACUU) Annual Conference. Register and info here.
REPORTS
LiveOn NY Reports
Aging is Everyone’s Business: Policies for Building a New York for All Ages 2021
Beyond Bricks: Affordable Senior Housing with Services 2020
Under One Roof - Senior Center Infographic 2018
City Budget FY19 Priorities 2018
NYC's Affordable Housing Crisis for Seniors Persists 2017
City Budget FY18 Priorities 2017
A NYC Roadmap to Address Elder Abuse 2016
Through the Roof: Waiting Lists for Senior Housing 2016
State Budget Agenda 2016
SCRIE Under-utilization by Sub-Borough Areas 2015
Paving the Way for New Senior Housing 2015
Call to Action: Building a Housing Agenda for Older New Yorkers 2014
The Aging Tsunami: A Blueprint for the Quality of Life for Older New Yorkers 2013
Preventing Hunger Among the Elderly: Under Enrollment of SNAP by Older New Yorkers 2013
21st Century Senior Centers: Changing the Conversation 2010
Key Reports in the Field
The Aging Apple: Older Immigrants a Rising Share of New York's Seniors 2017
The New York State Cost of Financial Exploitation Study 2016
Caregivers in Crisis 2013
NYS Elder Abuse Prevalence Study 2011
