Committee on Civil Service and Labor meeting
February 18, 2026, 10:00 AM
The Committee on Civil Service and Labor held a hearing on Int 0303-2026, which would establish a maximum number of working hours per shift for home care employees.
What was discussed
- Chair Aldebol and sponsor Marte open the hearing on the No More 24 Act (Int 303) Chairperson Shirley Aldebol opened the Committee on Civil Service and Labor hearing on Intro 303, noting home care is a 130,000-worker industry with mean pay under $41,000, and sponsor Council Member Christopher Marte framed the bill as ending forced 24-hour shifts—which he said meet the UN
- DCWP backs the bill's intent but warns 24-hour shifts can't be ended without new Medicaid funding Deputy Commissioner Carlos Ortiz of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, joined by Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth Wagoner, testified that DCWP supports the intent of Intro 303 and that workers should be paid for every hour worked, citing enforcement like a nearly $1 million sick-time
- Do home care agencies actually need more Medicaid funding to drop 24-hour shifts? Council Member Christopher Marte pressed DCWP on its funding concern, saying agencies his office met with that already switched to 12-hour split shifts raised no financial burden and noting the same Medicaid stream funds 24-hour care statewide yet only New York City pays just 13 hours; Deputy
- Who bears the cost, and can providers comply if no Medicaid funding has been secured? Council Member Frank Morano asked whether ending 24-hour shifts without secured Medicaid funding risks non-compliance and who ultimately pays; Deputy Commissioner Carlos Ortiz conceded no additional funding had been secured and had no cost estimate, while Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth Wagoner noted
- Does DCWP have the staff to enforce its growing list of worker-protection mandates? Council Member Tiffany L. Cabán asked what DCWP needs to take on bigger enforcement responsibilities; Deputy Commissioner Carlos Ortiz said fiscal impact statements for recent bills total about 34 new staff lines but the preliminary budget provided only about nine, adding that Wagoner's team alone
- State Senator Ramos and Assembly Member Kim testify that no other part of the state forces 24-hour shifts State Senator Jessica Ramos and Assembly Member Ron Kim testified in strong support, with Ramos calling the 13-hour rule wage theft and noting no other city in New York assigns 24-hour home care shifts, and Kim describing his 103-page report on wage theft by Managed Care Organizations and the
- Dr. Auerbach makes the medical case against 24-hour shifts Dr. Steven B. Auerbach, a retired public health physician speaking for Health Justice for New York and Physicians for National Health Program-NY Metro, testified that no 24-hour shift is medically acceptable because fatigue degrades attention and care, and called the rationale that workers get five
- District Leader Fariello frames 24-hour shifts as a worker-retention crisis Vittoria Fariello, a Democratic District Leader in Lower Manhattan, urged passage of Intro 303, saying 24-hour shifts drive workers out of the field and that agencies which dropped the practice still operate profitably, so opposing the bill on funding grounds shifts the burden onto low-paid workers.
- Municipal retirees (CROC) stand with home care attendants Sarah Shapiro of the Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee testified that the group has marched with the home care attendants since before the 2024 hunger strike, disputed the claim that workers can sleep during unpaid hours, and called on Speaker Menin to bring Intro 303 to the floor.
- Ain't I A Woman organizer ties the fight to all overworked workers Belinda Hu, a young worker and organizer with the Ain't I A Woman Campaign, testified that the 24-hour workday sets a precedent that any worker can be forced into exploitative conditions and that ending it is a first step toward better conditions for everyone.
- Writer C.O. Moed recounts her mother's around-the-clock home attendants C.O. Moed, a native New Yorker, testified that her late mother's home attendants worked 84 hours straight but were paid for 42, and described the intimate, exhausting reality of the work to argue for humane 12-hour shifts.
- Home care workers testify that 24-hour shifts wrecked their health and families A series of current and former home care workers—testifying in English and through interpreters—described years of 24-hour shifts turning and diapering bedridden, dementia, and Parkinson's patients every one to two hours, resulting in heart disease, frozen shoulder, gastrointestinal illness
- Allied young and immigrant workers say the 24-hour shift drags down all labor Workers from outside home care—Aaron Liu (finance), Carlos Herrera (restaurant worker), Sabrina Fang (graduate student), Casey Robinson (Ain't I A Woman), and Lily Randall of Youth Against Sweatshops, who joined the six-day 2024 hunger strike—testified that the 24-hour workday is a blueprint bosses
- Family members describe the harm of 24-hour care to patients and caregivers Relatives of home care recipients testified to the human cost: Shirley Ranz (NOW-NYS) said managed long-term care refused split shifts for her father, whose bedsores worsened, approving them one day before he died; Cindy Duran said splitting her mother's shifts extended her life; Juana Valentin
- Former Health Committee Chair Gottfried's statement backs ending the 24-hour shift Anne Kochman read a statement from former Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, who chaired the Assembly Health Committee for 35 years, supporting Intro 303 and arguing that split-shift care by two 12-hour workers satisfactorily meets patients' 24-hour needs, while workers required to remain on site
- Hospice social worker says insurers exploit the 24-hour option to deny split shifts Bianca Siu Davies, a hospice social worker, testified that managed long-term care plans routinely reject split-shift requests—refusing to count patient restlessness, safety, or fall prevention as justification—and warned that so long as the law permits full 24-hour shifts, Medicaid and insurers will
- Christopher Leon Johnson backs the bill but accuses the Chair of union conflicts Christopher Leon Johnson testified in support of Intro 303 but alleged that Chair Aldebol's union background would lead her to keep the bill from reaching the floor, urging her to disclose it on the record.
- Hearing adjourned Chair Shirley Aldebol closed the hearing, noting written testimony could be submitted to the Council within 72 hours, and adjourned.
Agenda
1 item
- Int 0303-2026 A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to maximum working hours for home care employees Hearing Held by Committee