Senate Aging Committee approves seven bills on dementia care, tax relief, EPIC review and ombudsman access

State Senator Cordell Cleary, chair of the New York State Senate Aging Committee, presided over the committee's fourth meeting of 2025 on May 13, when the panel approved seven bills affecting dementia care coordination, property-tax exemptions for older and disabled homeowners, senior-center planning, a review of the EPIC prescription assistance program and an extension of ombudsman access to assisted living facilities.

The measures were advanced with brief explanations from sponsors and routine voice votes; the transcript does not record detailed roll-call tallies or identify individual movers and seconders. Several bills were reported to the finance committee and others were reported to the Senate floor as noted below.

Senate Bill 1782 (sponsor: Senator Henschey): an act to amend the elder law relating to dementia care and to establish a statewide dementia care coordinator position in the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) to manage dementia care navigators and to require each area agency to employ a dementia care navigator. The committee record states the bill is intended to address the caregiver crisis by creating a statewide coordinator and local navigators to help families connect to services. Outcome: passed and reported to the finance committee (vote tally not specified).

Senate Bill 3309 (sponsor: Senator Palumbo): an act to amend the real property tax law to allow a senior age 65 or older who moves after a municipality's taxable status date to qualify for the enhanced STAR (School Tax Relief) exemption for that taxable year. The committee said the bill prevents seniors from losing a benefit for which they otherwise qualify. Outcome: passed and reported to the appropriate Senate committee (reported in the transcript as "reported to the plaintiffs bill"; vote tally not specified).

Senate Bill 3563 (sponsor: Senator Clear): an act to amend the real property tax law to permit other qualifying household members for the disability-related tax exemption by expanding the definition of qualifying head of household to include a parent, legal guardian or other relative of a person with a disability. The bill was described as supported by the Mitchell Grama Residents Coalition and tenants and neighbors. Outcome: passed (vote tally not specified) and reported to the finance committee.

Senate Bill 5832 (sponsor: Senator Scoofus): an act to amend the real property tax law to increase income eligibility thresholds and corresponding abatement levels for the senior citizen and disabled property owner exemptions, a change the committee said would provide additional property tax relief for approximately 400,000 New Yorkers. Outcome: passed and reported to the finance committee (vote tally not specified).

Senate Bill 7160 (sponsor: Senator Clear): an act to amend the elder law to add responsibilities to the existing senior center council within NYSOFA, requiring the council to take on statewide programmatic and fiscal planning to ensure long-term sustainability and viability of senior centers. Outcome: passed and reported to the Senate floor (vote tally not specified).

Senate Bill 7671 (sponsor: Senator Clear): an act to amend the elder law directing the Commissioner of Health to produce a report on the utilization and activity of the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program. The committee record says EPIC currently helps more than 325,000 income-eligible seniors age 65 and older and that the report is intended to identify trends in utilization and program efficiency following changes since the COVID-19 pandemic. Outcome: passed and reported to the Senate floor (vote tally not specified).

Senate Bill 7737 (sponsor: Senator Clea): an act to amend chapter 462 of the laws of 2015 relating to long-term care ombudsman access to assisted living facilities by extending certain provisions for two years, from Dec. 31, 2025, until Dec. 31, 2027. The transcript notes this extender has routinely passed since 2015. Outcome: passed and reported to the finance committee (vote tally not specified).

Meeting context and process notes: The committee convened with a quorum present and moved through seven agenda items with short sponsor summaries and routine motions and seconds recorded in the transcript. The record does not include roll-call vote counts for the bills; several voice votes are recorded as "Aye," with responses transcribed as "Opposed. AWRs." The transcript provides limited floor debate and no extended questioning or amendment text. No public comments on the bills are recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.

Next steps: The transcript records the committee reporting the bills either to the Senate finance committee or to the floor as indicated above; further action (full-floor debate, committee reviews, or enrollment) will be reflected in subsequent Senate records.