Supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) takes good policies, a strong workforce, and steady funding. CCOs want to help.

What we’re doing:

We’re asking lawmakers to make simple, practical changes that keep people safe, reduce stress on families and staff, and make care more reliable. Our goals focus on better access to services, more flexibility, and strong support for the workers who provide care every day.

Why it matters:

When care is easier to give and easier to get, people stay healthier, families feel supported, and our communities grow stronger.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities deserve better. Their families deserve better.

It’s time to invest in dignity, fairness, and the future of community-based care.

75% of New Yorkers with IDD live in the community, yet only 30-35% of the budget is allocated for these non-certified settings.

Provider agencies face persistent workforce shortages, rising costs, and aging infrastructure.

Outdated rules designed for an institutional system limit flexibility, drive inequity, and raise costs.

Families are absorbing the strain and fear for their children’s uncertain futures.

Reference source: https://opwdd.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/10/stats-document-10_11_24_acc.pdf

Our Hopes for System Change Are Simple:

  • Modernized rules and regulatory flexibility that support independence and innovation

  • Strengthened families through recognition, training, and compensation

  • A supported, sustainable workforce that can afford to stay in the field

  • Coordinated, integrated care for people with both IDD and mental health needs

  • Smart public investment that reduces crisis, lowers costs, and aligns with NYS priorities

NY State’s Legislative Timeline

Click on the steps below for more detail:

1. Fall-December is Pre-Session (Idea Development and Processing)

  • Stakeholders develop policy proposals
  • Legislators draft bill concepts
  • Bills can be introduced as “pre‑filed” before session opens

  • Legislature convenes early January
  • Bills are formally introduced in either Assembly or Senate
  • Each bill is assigned a number and referred to a committee

  • Governor releases the Executive Budget in January
  • Legislature holds hearings through February and March
  • Budget negotiations dominate legislative priorities
  • State Budget is due April 1
    • Many major policy decisions are enacted through the budget

  • Bills are reviewed in policy committees
  • Committees may:
    • Advance the bill
    • Amend it
    • Hold it without action
  • Some bills move through multiple committees

  • Bills released from committee go to the full Assembly or Senate
  • Each house debates and votes on bills.
  • A bill must pass both chambers in identical form.

 

  • If the Assembly and Senate pass different versions, negotiations occur
  • One house must agree to the other’s amendments before final passage

  • Regular session typically ends mid‑June.
  • High volume of bills passed in the final weeks.
  • Bills not passed may carry over to the second year of the two‑year session.

  • 10 days (while Legislature is in session) to:
    • Sign the bill into law
    • Veto it
  • 30 days if the bill is passed after session ends.
  • Governor may issue:
    • Approval memo
    • Veto message

  • Signed bills are assigned a Chapter number
  • Effective date may be:
    • Immediate
    • A specific future date
    • Upon issuance of regulations
  • Agencies begin rulemaking if required
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