Here are the major bills awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature

During the past legislative session, state lawmakers approved 805 bills in both chambers. With about a month and a half left in the year, Gov. Kathy Hochul still needs to take action on 205 pieces of legislation.

Right now, four bills are currently in the governor’s office. That means that the state Legislature has delivered the legislation to Hochul, kick-starting a 10-day clock for the governor to act on them. If Hochul doesn’t take action within 10 days – excluding Sundays – the bill will automatically become law. On Nov. 22, Hochul acted on over 100 bills that had been before her, chaptering some and vetoing others. All told, she has taken action on 599 bills, with one proposed constitutional amendment sent to the attorney general’s office for review. Hochul signed 541 of those bills and vetoed 58.

That still leaves 201 pieces of legislation that legislative leaders have not yet delivered to the governor. She has until the end of the year to either sign or veto each of the bills. Or at least, for the most part. Legislation can lapse into the new year, in which case she will have 30 days to act on the bills. At the end of that period, anything she hasn’t taken action on will automatically get vetoed, referred to as a “pocket veto.” Hochul didn’t make any pocket vetoes at the start of this year, signing all three bills that were leftover from 2023.

The governor has already signed a number of high-profile bills, including one expanding red light camera programs, but several more are still awaiting her approval or rejection. Here is some of the notable legislation awaiting action from Hochul, and items she has already acted on.

PENDING BILLS

Grieving Families Act (S8485/A9232)

This past legislative session is the third time that lawmakers have passed this bill, which would update the state’s 177-year-old wrongful death statute to allow families to sue for emotional damages. Hochul has vetoed it twice before, citing concerns over unintended financial consequences on health care facilities. After the first veto, lawmakers made changes to the bill meant to address some of the governor’s reservations, but she rejected it a second time. This year, legislators made additional changes, but they may still not go far enough to convince Hochul to get on board. Assembly Member Helene Weinstein has spent three decades trying to update the state’s wrongful death law, and this is the last chance for her to see that happen before she retires from the Legislature.

Climate Change Superfund Act (S2129/A3351)

A major priority for climate activists, especially with the incoming Trump administration, the legislation would require major polluters to pay a combined $3 billion a year into a fund to pay for resiliency projects for the next quarter century. It passed at the end of this year’s legislative session as lawmakers debated a series of high-profile environmental measures. Bill sponsor state Sen. Liz Krueger recently told City & State that she is “cautiously optimistic” that it will get signed. As it stands, the state is struggling to hit its statutory climate goals as advocates push for measures that will help move projects along quicker.

Lithium-ion battery safety (S6809/A6811)

Following a spate of deadly fires attributed to lithium-ion batteries, state Sen. Cordell Cleare and Assembly Member Yudelka Tapia introduced legislation meant to curb such fires as e-bikes become increasingly common in New York City. The bill would create a “safety program” to allow New Yorkers to exchange old and potentially faulty batteries for new ones or rebates. Hochul signed a series of bills in July meant to improve e-bike and lithium-ion battery safety, but this one was not included. It’s possible that Hochul and lawmakers have been discussing possible chapter amendments to the bill over the past several months, or negotiating more generally over whether the governor would sign it.

TREES Act (S8898/A9711)

Krueger and former Assembly Member Kenneth Zebrowski are trying again to get Hochul’s approval on a bill she vetoed last year, this time with a handy new acronym name. The Tropical Rainforest Economic and Environmental Sustainability – or TREES – Act amends last year’s New York Deforestation-Free Procurement Act to address some of the concerns that Hochul cited in her veto. The bill is meant to ensure that anyone the state contracts with does not contribute to the deforestation of rainforests.

MENA disaggregation (S6584/A6219)

A priority for sponsors state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris and Assembly Member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, this legislation would require the state to collect separate demographic data for Middle Eastern and North African New Yorkers. Right now, the community is grouped together with white residents in state data. The intent of the legislation is to better serve the historically underserved group with the aid of improved state data.

Fashion Workers Act (S9832/A5631)

New York is a labor state, and the fashion industry is no different. The Fashion Workers Act from Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Karines Reyes aims to extend labor protections to models working in the fashion industry. Namely, it would close a loophole for management companies that hire models that allows them to avoid the regulations that govern talent agencies by enacting new baseline requirements for transparency and accountability for those companies.

Jury of Our Peers Act (S206/A1432)

The state has done a lot to return the rights of formerly incarcerated people upon their release, but Cleare and Assembly Member Jeffrion Aubry are looking to return one major right that people with felony convictions don’t have. Right now, anyone who has been convicted of a felony is banned from serving on a jury for the rest of their life. The Jury of Our Peers Act would return that right to those who have served their sentence and completed all of their post-release conditions, such as probation. If signed, New York would join 21 other states and Washington, D.C., in allowing people with past felony convictions to serve on juries.

AI oversight (S7543/A9430)

New York would be a national leader if this AI legislation from state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and Assembly Member Steven Otis gets signed. The Legislative Oversight of Automated Decision-making in Government Act would limit and regulate how state agencies can use AI when making decisions and require disclosure by any agencies using such technology. It would also prohibit the replacement of human workers with AI. Although other states have passed laws regulating the use of AI decision-making in the private sector, New York would be the first to approve such oversight for the public sector.

Horseshoe Crab Protection Act (S3185A/A10140)

A priority for Assembly Member Deborah Glick, chair of her chamber’s Environmental Conservation Committee, this legislation aimed at protecting horseshoe crabs recently got a big-name conservationist to endorse it. Jane Goodall in November wrote a letter to Hochul urging the governor to sign the bill. Why should we care about horseshoe crabs? As environmentalists point out, the species has been around for over 350 million years but is now endangered in New York due to commercial fishing.  The legislation would make it illegal to take horseshoe crabs from New York waters for commercial or biomedical purposes.

SIGNED BILLS

Legalizing adultery (S8744/A4714)

It may come as a surprise, but adultery was technically illegal in New York up until Hochul signed this legislation. It’s one of those laws passed in the distant past that still technically exists. Krueger and Assembly Member Charles Lavine wanted to change that with this legislation, which passed nearly unanimously in both chambers. A handful of naysayers voted to keep adultery illegal in New York, but overall lawmakers were ready to turn the page on criminalizing cheating. The happily married governor (40 years and counting) said it was “somewhat ironic” for her to sign the bill, but said the statute was “silly (and) outdated.”

Absentee ballot drop boxes (S610/A7243)

After failing to pass in the Assembly last year, both chambers approved a bill that would authorize secure drop boxes for absentee and mail-in ballots during elections. Drop boxes are used in other states with widespread mail-in voting options. They’ve been in the news recently after fires were set in ballot boxes in Washington and Oregon during the presidential election, raising concerns about the security of drop-off locations. Hochul included a chapter amendment to the legislation to authorize their use from state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Tony Simone. Specifically, she said that the language of the law will be updated to clarify that the boxes can be used for both absentee and early mail-in ballots, which are technically two separate ways to vote.

Parole Board qualifications (S126/A586)

The state Board of Parole is pretty consistently missing members, putting an enormous amount of work on the board members who are serving as they make crucial determinations on the futures of incarcerated individuals. This bill from state Sen. Sean Ryan and former Assembly Member Kenny Burgos aims to widen the pool of potential candidates by introducing alternate qualifications. Right now, appointees to the board need at least an undergraduate degree along with five years of relevant experience. The legislation would allow people without a degree who instead have 10 years of relevant experience to become eligible candidates for nomination as well. Hochul agreed with the idea, signing the bill without any chapter amendments.

Melanie’s Law (S6288/A6026)

Hochul held a bill-signing ceremony with the mother of Melanie Chianese, for whom the legislation is named, on Nov. 25. The new law will permit courts to issue orders of protection for family and household members of named victims regardless of the person’s age. The impetus for the legislation was the murder of Chianese by her mother’s abusive ex-boyfriend after he pleaded guilty to a domestic violence felony, but had not yet been sentenced. While her mother Cheryl – the victim – and her son – permitted due to his age – were granted orders of protection, Chianese was not. The newly signed bill from state Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Assembly Member Brian Cunnhingham aims to close the loophole to prevent similar future tragedies.

VETOED BILLS

Specialized state police pension (S8472/A8918)

Hochul’s first veto of the year gained some attention, as the governor rejected this bill that would have amended the retirement system for various law enforcement officers to align with those for most other police agencies in the state. The veto came shortly after the union representing those officers put up billboards critical of the governor. And union leaders charge that a top aide to the governor threatened the veto if the billboards didn’t come down. It’s also the fourth time that Hochul has rejected the legislation, even if this latest action had the appearance of political motivation. “This bill has been vetoed four times over the past five years because this pension enhancement would impose substantial unbudgeted costs on the State,” she wrote in a veto memo.

Downstate casino licensing acceleration (S9673/A10572)

This bill from state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. and Assembly Member J. Gary Pretlow was more than a little moot when Hochul issued her veto. It would have sped up the bidding process for three new downstate casino licenses, requiring all applications to be submitted by Aug. 31. In theory, it was possible that Hochul could have negotiated chapter amendments to put in place a new deadline that would actually be effective. The state Gaming Commission set an application due date of June next year, with December 2025 as the deadline for the commission to make its final decisions. Amending the legislation could have made the regulatory decision binding in statute, or created a different deadline. But Hochul rejected that idea in her veto memo. “I cannot support a bill that aims to change the rules in the middle of the process,” she wrote.

Task forces and commissions

As she implied with the pension veto, Hochul does not like bills that will impose unbudgeted costs on the state. So she has a habit of blanket vetoing large batches of bills that would create various task forces and commissions that carry with them a fiscal burden not included as part of the state budget. This year, Hochul vetoed 29 bills that fall under that umbrella with a single veto memo. “I share a strong desire in addressing the problems and issues identified in this legislation, and I commend the Legislature for seeking to address such a broad array of problems,” she wrote. “However, enactment of this package of legislation would collectively cost the state approximately $24 million.” Hochul noted that this is the third year in a row that she has vetoed dozens of similar bills.