As the political and policy landscape continues to evolve, the NY Alliance is pleased that Jim Lytle will help us understand the ongoing implications of H.R. 1, emerging priorities in Washington, D.C. including legislative activity, regulatory shifts and political dynamics. 

Specifically, Jim will share insights into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Medicaid provisions, one year after passage, with a focus on: 

• Statutory requirements for community engagement
• Applicability to I/DD population: expansion population
• Exemptions/Exceptions to requirement
• June 2026 “Interim Final Rule” and the new employability requirements
• Litigation initiated in 26 states
• Potential additional legal challenges

Jim will also focus on other issues including, but not limited to: 

• Key elements of SNAP changes may have implications for many agencies that utilize benefit to offset food costs and to employees who rely on it to feed families. 
• Immigration/Denial of Temporary Protective Status
• Special education issues
• Anti-DEI Focus, leading to Olmstead reinterpretation
• Autism/Tylenol
• Overall economic challenges: tariffs, oil shock

Following recent Primary Elections, and in advance of the November Midterms, Jim will share his thoughts on the impact of redistricting on races House races, the latest projections for House and Senate, the effect of Democratic control of one or both houses in the U.S. Congress, and the key role for States in mitigating impact of certain policies.

About Jim Lytle

James W. Lytle recently retired after over 25 years as a partner and senior counsel at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, where he operated out of the firm’s Albany and Boston offices and led the firm’s New York State government, regulatory and policy practice. He represented a broad array of clients, especially in the healthcare and higher education arenas, before the legislature and the executive branch and has represented clients in administrative hearings and throughout all levels of the state court system, including the state’s highest court.

Mr. Lytle is the former Chair of the Health Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and served as Assistant Counsel for Health and Human Services to Governor Mario M. Cuomo from 1983 to 1986. In 2021, he was an adjunct professor of Health Law at New York University School of Law and has also been an adjunct professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany School of Public Health, New York Medical College School of Health Sciences and Practices and SUNY College of Optometry.

He has been consistently recognized by Chambers USA and by The Best Lawyers in America , which named him the 2017 Lawyer of the Year in Albany for healthcare and governmental relations and Albany Lawyer of the Year for government relations again in 2019. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mr. Lytle was a fellow at the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.