By J. David Seay, J.D.

I love "to-do" lists; I also hate to-do lists. Hmm. I wonder if I have "issues" with lists? Perhaps so.

A typical scenario goes like this: I arrive for a day's work at the NAMI-NYS offices all fired-up and ready to go, armed with a neat, freshly-minted to-do list for the day, carefully crafted and printed in block letters, numbered and placed in priority order, no less. Ten hours later and I have worked my posterior off and NOT ONE item on the carefully planned to-do list has been completed! Other intervening problems and demands on my time and attention have thrust themselves on me for quick resolution like a skunk at a garden party. Have I failed? Were the intervening demands as important as the list? Does it matter? Do I have any control over my day? I'll answer the question in a typically lawyer-like alternative: yes and no. Lists can only get you so far. After that, you are on your own to do battle with the clock and the calendar.

So much for lists and for planning. How much should I despair? Dwight D. Eisenhower, back when he was still a multi-star general, is quoted as saying that in war, planning is essential but plans are often useless. Maybe he should have become a NAMI executive director rather than President of the United States.

In my last Executive Director's Message I gave a rather long list of to-do items to be accomplished here in Albany. Since that time, the NAMI-NYS Government Affairs Committee has met and honed the list into our NAMI-NYS 2005 Agenda for Action. This to-do list was the center piece of our 2005 Legislative Luncheon and Conference in Albany on February 8th.

The 2005 Agenda for Action is really two lists: a list of budget concerns and a list of legislative priorities. Budget issues include restoring cuts to aid to localities, getting more funding for housing with support services, opposing more cuts in the research budget, restoring mental health benefits to the Family Health Plus program, restoring "optional services" to Medicaid and opposing a Medicaid Preferred Drug List (PDL).

At the time of publication, the Legislature had completed most of its work in getting the first on-time state budget in 21 years (see story on page 1). In the compromises worked out between the Senate and Assembly, $4.365 million of the $7.7 million cut last year from aid to localities were restored. No new money for mental health housing was added but the Governor's Executive Budget did include funding for some housing units promised in prior years. The Legislature also restored half of the $800,000 in cuts to the research budget, with $400,000 earmarked for the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Rockland County.

They also put mental health benefits back into the Family Health Plus program, that the Executive Budget proposed to eliminate, and restored the "optional services" under Medicaid (including psychology, podiatric and dental services) that the Executive Budget also would have cut. These reflect victories, to varying degrees, for the NAMI-NYS agenda. However, our fight to oppose a PDL appears lost, as the Legislature included one in its compromise. Even here there are a few small victories in that the atypical antipsychotic and antidepressant medications were carved-out and the prescribing physician was given the final word on what medication a Medicaid recipient can take, albeit not without some amount of bureaucracy.

Of course, as I write this, the ball is back in the Governor’s court, and it is unclear what in the Legislature’s Budget Resolution he will support.

Meanwhile, our to-do list of top legislative priorities – Kendra's Law, Timothy's Law, the "boot the SHU' bill and a community mental health housing waiting lists law – also sees some real hope of progress this year. There is activity on all fronts, and it looks like new Senate Mental Health Committee Chairman Thomas Morahan is going to take an active role in moving things forward. All of this activity wreaks havoc with the best made lists, but it’s a havoc we don’t mind, as long as something substantial is accomplished after the storm subsides. This year, that just might happen with several issues. Although it is far too soon to put “celebrate” as a to-do, we will make progress. The many steps we have taken will pay off, as long as we remain committed to our cause.