On Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Governor Cuomo vetoed the bill authorizing LCSW’s to provide services under workers’ compensation (A5299-B Pretlow/ S2360-B Klein). While certainly a disappointment, we take heed of the fact that this issue has taken a major step forward in becoming a reality as a result of the persistent efforts of our Policy Director who, through hundreds of legislative visits, was able to finally garner enough legislative support to advance this legislation.
Shortly after passage of the bill at the end of the 2014 legislative session, the Chapter along with our collaborative partners at the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work, engaged in five month long call to action urging social workers across the state to write the Governor in support of his signing this bill into law. We want to thank all of you who took the time to act by mailing a letter to the Governor. Those letters become part of the official bill record, and we will be reviewing them once the bill jacket is published.
In his veto message the Governor emphasized that his decision was based on the ongoing work of the Business Process Re-engineering of NYS Workers Comp Board project which began in August 2013 the goal of which is to make comprehensive reforms to this system. A similar bill regarding Acupuncturists was also vetoed with the same message, indicating that the veto is not due to an opposition to what our bill would accomplish. Upon learning of the Governor’s veto, Karin Carreau, MSW our Policy Director immediately began working in partnership with the Clinical Society’s legislative representative to map out our next strategic steps. Hence, we have already begun legislative discussions, reached out to the Workers Compensation Board (WCB), scheduled meetings with the Governor’s Counsel and positioned ourselves to continue dialogues as ongoing partners in the workers comp reformation process.
Click Here to Read the Workers Compensation Bill RE: Clinical Social Workers
VETO MESSAGE – No. 533
TO THE ASSEMBLY:
I am returning herewith, without my approval, the following bills:
Assembly Bill Number 9721-B, entitled:
“AN ACT to amend the workers’ compensation law and the education law, in relation to the care and treatment of injured employees by licensed or certified acupuncturists”
Assembly Bill Number 5299-B, entitled:
“AN ACT to amend the workers’ compensation law, in relation to the care and treatment of injured employees by certain licensed clinical social workers”
NOT APPROVED
Each of these bills would add a new section 13-p to the Workers’ Compensation Law. One would make licensed acupuncturists and the other would make clinical social workers eligible providers of treatment under the workers’ compensation program.
The Workers’ Compensation Board is engaging in a comprehensive Business Process Reengineering project that will improve and update the workers’ compensation system. These bills, however, make piecemeal changes to the system outside the broader context of the Business Process Reengineering project. Because I believe that any revisions to the workers’ compensation system should be part of this comprehensive review, I am vetoing these bills.
These bills are disapproved. (signed) ANDREW M. CUOMO