State Sen. John Mannion looks to lessen DSS caseloads and oppose Gov. Hochul’s budget proposal denying counties federal Medicaid funds

“I’m co-sponsor on a bill for maximum caseloads,” he said. “What this would do, right now the state picks up 62% of the CPS (Child Protective Services) costs for work that has to be done, and this would set a maximum caseload for individuals, a maximum number of new investigations for caseworkers, and anything above what is already happening in these counties, the state would pick up 100% of that.”

Do you mean the state would provide more employees?

“That’s right,” Mannion explained. “Any additional costs that the county would have to take on, instead of just 62% of that being covered by the state, it would be 100% for additional staffing so it would be manageable caseloads and a manageable number of new investigations.

“This would be a statewide proposal,” he continued, “to make sure counties have enough DSS workers to do the work and make sure that they’re embedded in these cases and given the attention that they need. Of course, with what’s been highlighted in Oswego County, this is part of the reason we’re trying to advance legislation like this, but it’s really a concern all over the state.”

So, there is no set number of maximum caseloads per employee?

“If I remember correctly,” Mannion replied, “that’s to be determined by the OCFS (state Office of Children and Family Services).”

On the second question facing the County Legislature and one which initiated the passage of a unanimous resolution in opposition to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent budget proposal in which she spoke about the pass through federal funding that comes to the counties to subsidize partially Medicaid. She wants to keep it, use it in other ways, and no longer pass those millions of dollars through to the counties. According to the Oswego County Legislature, that could result in a seven percent increase in property taxes throughout Oswego County. I asked Mannion where he stood on that?

“My quick answer to that as soon as I heard about it was I don’t like it,” he replied. “I know the counties and municipalities don’t like it either, and they shouldn’t. This is something that if we want to have a conversation with the counties and state government, I think that should be worked through and negotiated. Immediately when I saw it, it’s of concern, and having a good relationship with both of the county leaderships that I represent, they’re concerned. So, my quick answer is I reject that proposal and have articulated that when we in the senate are developing our own one-house (proposal). And I know that many of my colleagues, particularly those that represent upstate areas, agree with that position.

“The budget is in negotiations,” Mannion continued. “You know, how the process goes is the governor leads with her executive budget, and then the Senate and the Assembly come back with their one-house budgets. We have not completed that process yet, but we will be fairly soon, and we’ll see where that ends up, but I know that at least in our internal negotiations, that proposal’s widely criticized by my colleagues in the Senate, and my guess would be it would be similar in the Assembly. So, we’ll see, after those one-house budgets come out, the negotiations go. This is where we had the quote unquote ‘three men in a room.’ Those dynamics have changed. We’re (now) two women and one man. It may not be as catchy as the previous phrasing, but I do think most would agree that it’s a step in the right direction. I do believe that (the governor’s proposal) is up for negotiation. We haven’t reached the final budget yet. That’s due on April 1st. It’s my role as being a voice for upstate New York, and specifically the counties I represent, to make sure that something like that’s going to have a direct impact on the taxpayers of this area, and it was unexpected. Counties have to plan their budgets, and this was not in the plan. That’s why my position is to oppose it, and we’ll see what happens in the final budget.”

Could it go through anyway as it was an administrative maneuver by the governor and not specifically a bill that can be vote on individually?

“It has to be negotiated in those three entities, the governor, the Assembly, and the Senate,” Mannion said. “All eyes are on it. It can’t be back-doored or anything like that. We vote on that budget. The governor signs the budget. Of course, many would criticize, and I would be one of them, this is not the greatest way to build a budget in the state of New York, because there’s so many things in it, including something like this. There’s things you’re going to like. There’s things you’re not going to like. But this is really an item that has drawn a lot of attention from people. People are very concerned. The counties have a right to be concerned, and I know that my voice is in there saying I think this is a bad idea. So, we’ve got to vote on that budget. It can’t be enacted into law without the votes of the Senate, the Assembly, and the signature of the governor.”

It’s an all-or-nothing vote.

“It’s all or nothing,” said Mannion. “We may like certain elements of the budget. We may not like others. We may like support for public education. We may not like that this is sort of changing the rules by which the counties are playing by, and ultimately, we have to come to a decision on that. But I will say, that of all the things we’ve talked about, and there’s hundreds of them, that this is one that really stands out. It has got a lot of attention, and the attention is that it’s not a good idea.”

So, the opposition to this could be strong enough that the Senate might actually vote against the budget if the governor insisted on including it?

“Honestly, what I’m hoping for,” Mannion concluded, “is that as my leadership goes into negotiations, that they’re carrying the position that we’re going to reject this part of it, and then, hopefully, we’re voting on other things in the budget that don’t have this in there. When it comes down to the vote, this might be a game changer for people. They may vote no as a result of it. But it’s my hope, and I’ll be a very strong voice in this, that we don’t end up with that in the final budget that we have to vote on, that that part of it’s rejected.”