BILL NUMBER: S4402
SPONSOR: MAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to funds concerning state
university health care facilities
 
PURPOSE:
To provide debt service relief for SUNY's teaching hospitals.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 prohibits the transfer of funds from the State University New
York to the general fund or any other fund within in the auspices of the
state comptroller for the purposes of prepayment or repayment of debt
service costs related to a State university health care facility.
Section 2: effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
SUNY's teaching hospitals- SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Stony Brook
University Hospital, and Upstate University Hospital- are safety-net
hospitals in their communities and face extraordinary challenges while
serving patients and training the health care providers of the future.
All three institutions serve a disproportionate percentage of patients
on Medicaid and Medicare, and their medical professionals and staff
stepped up during the worst of the COVID19 pandemic, from providing
frontline emergency care to communities at the epicenter of the crisis
to developing one of the most accurate saliva tests in the nation.
Unlike other SUNY and State-owned facilities, SUNY's hospitals must pay
the debt service on capital projects from their operations. The State
taking on the debt service at these teaching hospitals would provide
parity for SUNY teaching hospitals and allow for reinvestment into the
hospitals' workforce and facilities, thus improving their ability to
meet patient needs.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S6736/A1404
2021-22: S7684/A9084
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Approximately $67,000,000.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

Statutes affected:
S4402: 355 education law, 355(8-a) education law