Hochul issues rare pocket veto

Gov. Kathy Hochul used an uncommon action known as a “pocket veto” on Tuesday – the first time she has done so since winning her 2022 election for governor, and the third time since taking office in 2021. Through inaction, she quietly rejected a bill to increase the reimbursement rates for after-4 p.m. bus services for New York City private school students.

The legislation was the last bill left over from the 2024 legislative session. Sponsored by Assembly Member Simcha Eichenstein and state Sen. Julia Salazar, the bill would have impacted a service largely – though not exclusively – used by students at yeshivas and other Jewish private schools, whose academic days often end later than other public or private schools. Both legislators represent parts of Brooklyn with significant Orthodox Jewish populations.

For most of the year, a governor in New York has 10 days – minus Sundays – to act on legislation once lawmakers formally deliver her a bill. If she doesn’t take action, the bill automatically becomes law. But for any pending bills at the end of the year that roll into the next, the clock changes to 30 days, and legislation is automatically rejected if the governor takes no action before the 30 days are up. This means that at the beginning of each year, the governor gets roughly another month to act on any leftover bills, with the option to quietly reject them through inaction.

Hochul has made use of the pocket veto only two times before, both within roughly six months of taking office. At the start of 2022, she quietly rejected through inaction a bill to effectively automate the certification of retired judges who apply to serve for a handful of extra years, as well as another minor bill meant to clarify the qualification requirements for the pandemic-era emergency rental assistance program. Later in 2022, Hochul actively vetoed the judges bill after lawmakers passed it again.

Unlike a normal veto, a pocket video cannot be overridden by lawmakers. Normally, a two-thirds majority in both chambers can override a gubernatorial veto to make a bill law. The Legislature has never used that power in recent history, but supermajorities held by one party do offer additional leverage in negotiations with the executive branch, with the threat of an override always looming. Democrats held supermajorites in both the Assembly and the state Senate for several years, a status that bolstered their power. 

A normal veto also generally comes with an accompanying memo from the governor giving some explanation for the rejection. In the case of the after-4 p.m. busing bill, though, the memo merely stated that the bill was pocket vetoed, with no additional explanation included. A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately return a request for comment about her decision to pocket veto the bill.

State Sen. Julia Salazar said she believes Hochul may have pocket vetoed the legislation over financial concerns. Hochul regularly rejects legislation with fiscal impacts in favor of revisiting them in the budget. Salazar said she plans to push for the measure in this year’s budget. As to why Hochul chose not to proactively veto her legislation, as she has with many other bills with fiscal impacts, Salazar could only speculate. “It might be to signal that she didn't want to veto the bill, but felt that she also couldn't sign it without the associated funding for its implementation,” she suggested.

The busing bill is somewhat technical, providing for an updated reimbursement formula for busing services after-4 p.m., funding for which has not kept up with cost-of-living increases even as it has increased to reflect more students, according to the bill sponsors’ memo. The current after-4 p.m. busing program is about a decade old, and its creation was contentious with concerns over cost, backroom negotiations during budget talks and perceptions it was a handout for the powerful Orthodox Jewish voting bloc. The bill to make tweaks to the reimbursement rates was much lower profile, largely flying under the radar until it became the last bill of the 2024 legislative session left on the governor’s desk.

Pocket vetoes are uncommon in New York, but they are not unheard of. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo made use of them a handful of times while he was in office, with the last time being in 2021 to reject a bill that would have created a commission to study high-speed broadband expansion.

The practice is generally frowned upon by good government groups due to the lack of transparency inherent to inaction. “It's unfortunate that the Governor never acted on the bill,” said Tom Speaker, legislative director at Reinvent Albany. “We believe New York State's democracy is stronger when the executive does its part in the legislative process.”