December 5, 2022

Hon. Kathy C. Hochul

Governor of New York State
New York State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Greg Olsen
Acting Director, New York State Office for the Aging
2 Empire State Plaza, 5th Floor
Albany, NY 12223

Mary T. Bassett, M.D., M.P.H.

Commissioner, New York State Dept. of Health
Corning Tower, Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12237

Dear Governor Hochul, Director Olsen & Commissioner Bassett:

We write to you today to respectfully request that you convene of the “Reimagining Long-
Term Care Task Force." This task force was created to study the state of long-term care services
in New York, signed into law on December 22, 2021 and went into effect 45 days after the
expiration of Executive Order 11 on October 27th. It is our understanding that, as of today, this
task force, of which the Director of the Office of Aging and Commissioner of the Department of
Health serve as co-chairs, has not begun fulfilling its statutory requirement of working to provide
recommendations to the governor and Legislature on long-term care. While we are aware there
was recently an executive order issued to create the state's first-ever Master Plan for Aging, the
Legislature has seen fit to create this task force, and we believe it is past time for it to begin its
work.
The critical state of New York’s healthcare system, combined with recent enforcement
actions by the State Attorney General against a nursing home accused of unprecedented fraud and
widespread resident neglect, highlights the need for state leadership to get serious about fulfilling
the promises of providing exceptional care to those residents who are living in the state’s nursing
homes. Due to serious staffing concerns in nursing homes, hospitals are not able to discharge
patients to more medically appropriate care settings, and coupled with inefficient and inadequate
Medicaid funding levels, long-term care facilities are not able to make needed investment in
staffing and critical care infrastructure.

The Assembly Minority Conference has fulfilled its obligation by appointing a highly
qualified representative as a member of the task force, and it is our hope that you will call for all
relevant stakeholders to ensure their appointees are prepared to begin the work outlined under the
law. Once convened, the task force can immediately begin to plan a path to better serve residents
living in nursing homes and provide recommendations for action as part of the upcoming 2023
Legislative Session.

We thank you in advance for your attention to this matter, your consideration of this request
and, urge all appropriate parties to fulfill their obligations under the law.

With regards,

Josh Jensen Will Barclay

134th Assembly District Assembly Minority Leader

Joseph Angelino Jacob Ashby

122nd Assembly District 107th Assembly District

Ari Brown Keith P. Brown

20th Assembly District 12th Assembly District

Kevin M. Byrne Marjorie L. Byrnes

94th Assembly District 133rd Assembly District

Joseph P. DeStefano Michael Durso

3rd Assembly District 9th Assembly District
Jeffery Gallahan Jarett Gandolfo
131st Assembly District 7th Assembly District

Jodi Giglio Joseph M. Giglio

2nd Assembly District 148th Assembly District

Stephen M. Hawley John Lemondes, Jr.

139th Assembly District 126th Assembly District

Brian D. Manktelow John Mikulin

130th Assembly District 17th Assembly District

Brian D. Miller Michael Norris

101st Assembly District 144th Assembly District

Philip A. Palmesano Edward P. Ra

132ndAssembly District 19th Assembly District
Michael W. Reilly, Jr. John J. Salka
62nd Assembly District 121st Assembly District

Matthew Simpson Robert J. Smullen

114th Assembly District 118th Assembly District

Christopher Tague
102nd Assembly District