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Legislative Priorities
Reforming State Government
For the 2009 Legislative session,
League members are asked to work toward expanding access to the
use of the franchise by
advocating for legislation which will revise the absentee
ballot application. (Non legislative advocacy will continue
in the form of monitoring the voting machine certification
process to assure that the most stringent application of testing
standards to the new voting machines which will eventually be
introduced into usage statewide occurs.)
Revision of the absentee ballot
application form which all registered voters must use if they
cannot or do not wish to vote in their assigned polling place on
election days is the subject of the legislation.
This legislation will reduce and
simplify the information a voter must provide to obtain an
application for absentee ballot. Currently, the application
requires an unnecessary amount of personal information to
document the reason for the application. It serves no
administrative purpose, is intrusive and a deterrent for the
voter.
In addition, we have questions for
our reps on Campaign Finance Reform and Redistricting:
Do you support lowering campaign
contribution limits, more disclosure and increased independent
enforcement?
Would you support a Constitutional
Amendment creating a non-partisan commission to draw legislative
and congressional districts?
Energy and the Environment
Support New York State legislation
which would:
• Reduce greenhouse emissions;
• Foster energy efficiency,
renewable energy, green infrastructure;
• Protect water quality;
• Promote smart growth through
regional planning that enhances urban neighborhoods,
protects agricultural land, open
spaces, watersheds, and other sensitive areas;
• Promote waste management,
through the Bigger Better Bottle Bill;
•
Promote effective and expanded public
transit as a strategy to reduce air pollution and
conserve energy.
Extensive information on bill
numbers on this and other priorities are available in the
Legislative Packet. Access it at
www.lwv.org Click on 2009
Legislative Agenda in the pull down menu for Issues and
Advocacy. This page is a terrific resource during the
legislative session.
Cost
Effective and Accessible Healthcare
Below are bills introduced in 2008
that the League will again support in 2009:
Healthy Teens Act
• A.2856 /Assembly
member Richard Gottfried
• S.1342/Senator George Winner
Establishes an age-appropriate sex
education grant program through the Department of Health to be a
comprehensive age-appropriate program conducted by an eligible
applicant; authorizes the commissioner to determine certain
topics of instruction and makes provisions for the application
of grants.
Reproductive Health Act
• S.6045/Senator Andrea
Stewart-Cousins
Updates New York’s abortion laws
and establishes a fundamental, statutory right to privacy in
making personal reproductive decisions.
Pharmacy Benefit Manager
• A.2008/Assembly member Richard
Gottfried
• No Senate Majority sponsor yet
for this bill.
Bill Justification: “PBMs are
companies that manage prescription drug benefit programs for
health plans. PBMs have promised to save health plans and their
members’ money, but in reality, their negotiations are very
secretive. PBMs commonly pocket payments from drug manufacturers
that ought to be used to lower drug prices, and they accept
payments in exchange for giving preference to more expensive
drugs. This bill, modeled on recent legislation in Maine, would
require that PBMs act not in their own best interest, but rather
in the interest of the health
plan and its beneficiaries.”
New York Health Plan
• A.2356 /Assembly member Richard
Gottfried
• No Senate Majority sponsor yet
for this bill.
Enacts the New York State Health
Plan, a comprehensive system of access to health insurance for
New York state residents: establishes the New York Health Trust
Fund which would hold monies from a variety of sources to be
used solely to finance the plan; establishes a mechanism to
collect plan premium payments (an 8% employer premium and a 2%
employee payroll premium, which may be paid by an employer, plus
a 9% premium payment on self-employment income); establishes a
temporary commission on implementation of the plan and makes a
$500,000 appropriation; and directs the superintendent of
insurance to examine the premium rate structure for insurance
underwritten in the state and to identify that portion of
premiums which are attributable to health care expenditures due
to implementation of the plan.
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