In a months long investigation, FingerLakes1.com has identified the 14 nursing home-related state Senate bills that were directly lobbied on during last summer by Hinman Straub Advisors, LLC, an Albany-based lobbying firm that currently represents the Centers Health Care company during the September-October 2020 bi-monthly period.
Here are the names of those bills, what they advocated for, the legislative sponsors and co-sponsors and outcomes from Albany:
Bill Name: S08272
Senate Bill 8272 sought to provide “pandemic displaced employees grants to nursing homes and adult care facilities” including temporary staff, who had been hired to assist nursing home staff respond to the crippling impacts that stemmed from the coronavirus pandemic.
Sponsor:
- Senator Sue Serino [R, C, IP] 41st District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator George M. Borrello [R, C, IP, LIB] 57th District
- Senator Daphne Jordan [R, C, IP, RFM] 43rd District
- Senator Betty Little [R] 45th District
- Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt [R, C, IP] 62nd District
Outcome: Referred to the Health Committee on May 1, 2020
Bill Name: S08385 [A10512]
Senate Bill 8385 sought to enact the “New York Nursing Home Protection Act of 2020,” which would’ve required the Commissioner of Health “to ensure all nursing home staff receives COVID-19 testing twice weekly and all residents shall receive such testing weekly.”
Sponsor:
- Senator James Sanders Jr. [D] 10th District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator Patty Ritchie [R, C, IP] 48th District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on May 21, 2020
Bill Name: S08756 [A10857]
Senate Bill 8756 sought to establish “a temporary state commission to study and investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic response on deaths in nursing homes.”
Sponsor:
- James Tedisco [R, C] 49th District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator Fred Akshar [R, C, IP, RFM] 52nd District
- Senator George M. Borrello [R, C, IP, LIB] 57th District
- Senator Rich Funke [R] 55th District
- Senate Minority Whip Patrick M. Gallivan [R, C, IP] 59th District
- Senator Chris Jacobs [R] 60th District
- Senator Pamela Helming [R, C, IP] 54th District
- Senator Daphne Jordan [R, C, IP, RFM] 43rd District
- Senator Thomas F. O’Mara [R, C, IP] 58th District
- Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt [R, C, IP] 62nd District
- Senator Sue Serino [R, C, IP] 41st District
- Senator James L. Seward [R] 50th District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on July 14, 2020
Bill Name: S08591 [A11085]
Senate Bill 8591 aimed at enacting the “New York state nursing home virtual visitation act.”
Sponsor:
- Senator Rachel May [D,WF] 53rd District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on June 16, 2020
Bill Name: S08848
Senate Bill 8848 sought to establish the “Protecting Our Nursing Homes Act” and provide funding from the federal CARES Act for nursing homes to purchase PPE, cover the cost of COVID-19 testing and increase staffing inside those facilities.
Sponsor:
- Senator Sue Serino [R, C, IP] 41st District
Cosponsor(s):
- Senator Daphne Jordan [R, C, IP, RFM] 43rd District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on July 29, 2020
Bill Name: S08869 [A10564]
Senate Bill 8869 sought to require the Commissioner of Health to promulgate rules and regulations requiring nursing homes and residential health care facilities “to test all residents” for the novel coronavirus.
Sponsor:
- Senator Rachel May [D,WF] 53rd District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on August 3, 2020
Bill Name: S08890 [A11040]
Senate Bill 8890 aimed at directing the Department of Health to make all of their inspections publicly available from nursing homes and residential care facilities during the COVID-19 state disaster emergency. The bill also stipulated for the department to “conduct a comparative study of practices” in an effort to “identify the best practices for ensuring the containment and prevention of future outbreaks of COVID-19 in residential care facilities.
Sponsor:
- Senator Rachel May [D,WF] 53rd District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on August 7, 2020
Bill Name: S08958 [A11075]
Senate Bill 8958 aimed at directing the Department of Health “to develop rules, regulations and guidelines authorizing and regulating the visitation of personal care visitors and short-term compassionate care visitors.”
Sponsor:
- Senator Rachel May [D,WF] 53rd District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator Alessandra Biaggi [D, WF] 34th District
- Senator Leroy Comrie [D] 14th District
- Senator Pete Harckham [D, WF] 40th District
- Senate Minority Whip Patrick M. Gallivan [R, C, IP] 59th District
- Senator Robert Jackson [D, WF] 31st District
- Senator Liz Krueger [D, WF] 28th District
- Senator Shelley B. Mayer [D, WF] 37th District
- Senator Jen Metzger [D] 42nd District
- James Tedisco [R, C] 49th District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on September 2, 2020
Bill Name: S08984A
Senate Bill 8984A sought “to designate an essential person who would be permitted to be present and provide aid to a resident at a nursing home with unrestricted access” and offer regular testing of essential persons during COVID-19.
Sponsor:
- Senate Minority Whip Patrick M. Gallivan [R, C, IP] 59th District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator George M. Borrello [R, C, IP, LIB] 57th District
- Senator Daphne Jordan [R, C, IP, RFM] 43rd District
- Senator Kenneth P. LaValle [R] 1st District
- Senator Betty Little [R] 45th District
- Senator Patty Ritchie [R, C, IP] 48th District
- Senator James L. Seward [R] 50th District
Outcome: Amended and referred to the Rules Committee on September 23, 2020
Bill Name: S08996
Senate Bill 8996 sought to require the Department of Health “to submit a plan to establish regional step-down facilities to temporarily care for individuals who have been discharged from a hospital after receiving treatment for COVID-19.”
Sponsor:
- Senator Sue Serino [R, C, IP] 41st District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on Sept. 23, 2020
Bill Name: S08997
Senate Bill 8997 aimed at requiring the Department of Health “to post on its website certain data relating to COVID-19 cases in hospitals and nursing homes, including total COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes.”
Sponsor:
- Senator Sue Serino [R, C, IP] 41st District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on Sept. 23, 2020
Bill Name: S08999
Senate Bill 8999 sought to outline requirements for reporting communicable diseases and deaths to the Commissioner of Public Health, state institutions and hospitals.
Sponsor:
- Senator Gustavo Rivera [D, WF] 33rd District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator Leroy Comrie [D] 14th District
- Senator Robert Jackson [D, WF] 31st District
- Senator Rachel May [D,WF] 53rd District
- Senator Jen Metzger [D] 42nd District
- Senator James Skoufis [D] 39th District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on Sept. 23, 2020
Bill Name: S09029
Senate Bill 9029 sought for the Department of Health “to establish and implement an infection inspection audit and checklist on residential care facilities, nursing homes and long-term care facilities.”
Sponsor:
- Senator James Skoufis [D] 39th District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator Gustavo Rivera [D, WF] 33rd District
- Senator Rachel May [D,WF] 53rd District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on Oct. 5, 2020
Bill Name: S09036 [A11092]
Senate Bill 9036 aimed at providing patients of facilities with “essential caregiver visitation” to offer essential care services during the pandemic.
Sponsor:
- Senator Joseph A. Griffo [R, C, IP] 47th District
Co-Sponsor(s):
- Senator James L. Seward [R] 50th District
Outcome: Referred to the Rules Committee on Oct. 7, 2020
Gabe covered health and indigenous affairs in the Finger Lakes between 2019 and 2022. His award winning coverage was cited by the federal government and provided residents with an invaluable service during the coronavirus pandemic.