Special session the chatter of Somos

As Democrats in New York digest the outcome of the election, the chatter at their annual gathering in Puerto Rico has been about the prospect of a special session to solidify New Yorkers’ rights before Donald Trump takes office. Neither state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins nor Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has committed to the idea, an agenda for which remains nebulous, but the desire to safeguard the Empire State is strong. 

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera was passionate about the idea of having a special session before the Trump inauguration – but short on the specifics. He told City & State that he has been talking with colleagues to build support for the prospect. “I sincerely believe that we should assume that he's going to do everything that he says he's going to do,” Rivera said. “That is going to be disastrous to communities across the country, and certainly in New York.” He also said that he’s open to a series of executive actions if not a special session in the next two months. 

Before calling a special session, lawmakers would need to have an agenda for what they would act on. “I don’t have a list of things at this moment, but what I do have is many folks that are a call away that are deep experts in – name it,” Rivera said. “We need to have a real discussion about what are the things that we can do at the state level.” He said that as he’s beginning to think about that list, he has had positive conversations with his fellow members. “I haven't talked to a single colleague here who seems to not be aware of the moment that we're living in,” Rivera said, adding that he sees his job right now as “making sure that the political will is there.”

There certainly is a degree of political will among members who are at Somos. “I think that’s a great prospect,” state Sen. Jessica Ramos told City & State of the idea of a special session. “I think that if we can utilize the time between now and the inauguration to pass stronger protections that are going to protect the most vulnerable communities, then that's actually our duty.” She said she has “many bills” as chair of the Labor Committee in her chamber that she would like to see approved to “build a wall so that Trump doesn’t invade our rights.” State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal also said he would be “strongly supportive of our special session” if one gets called. “The message it would send to New Yorkers would be welcome – that their Legislature is cognizant of the challenges in a new Trump administration,” Hoylman-Sigal said. He considered a special session “more of a messaging tool” than something practical as he believes that lawmakers could accomplish the same things in January as they would at the end of this month or in December. Asked if he had any bills he’d like to see addressed, Hoylman-Sigal said he would be interested in solidifying the transgender safe haven law that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed last year.

Assembly Member Karines Reyes was one of the first people to publicly call for a special session before the new year during a panel about the Latino vote on Thursday, saying legislators should “build a wall” to insulate New York from Trump’s policies. “I’m going to hold all my colleagues to task – we should be going back into session before the end of the year,” Reyes said.

Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas echoed Reyes’ call. “Now is the time to be proactive,” she wrote on X. “We should hold a special session to pass legislation to protect our most vulnerable New Yorkers from the expected Trump admin. Resistance should start now.”

Neither leader has said they’re quite on board yet when asked by City & State. "I know that people are talking about it, (but) that's not a conversation that I've had,” Stewart-Cousins said on Friday. Heastie said he “can't commit to anything” until he has finished his post-election debriefing to better understand the results, and why people voted the way they did. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called a special session of his state’s legislature to pass bills to safeguard against a Trump presidency. That special session has not yet happened, and like New York, the California legislature is set to begin its regular session at the start of January. Hochul has not given any indication that she would call legislators back to Albany. On Friday, she detailed what called a “productive” conversation with Trump to find ways to collaborate, but affirmed that she would continue to protect New Yorkers’ rights. But in New York, the legislative leaders are able to call members back any time they want once the scheduled session ends – executive action is not needed for a special session.