State lawmakers await committee assignments as legislative session begins

Wednesday marks the start of New York’s new state legislative session in Albany as lawmakers make the trek back to the Capitol. The first day is largely ceremonial to officially gavel in the new session and the brand new Legislature after last year’s elections. In the Assembly, legislators will formally elect Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to be their speaker for the next two years. And in both chambers, all eyes are on committee assignments, which will be announced as soon as today.

A slew of retirements, electoral defeats and victories last year has shaken up the makeup of state Legislature, leaving a total of 12 committees across both the state Senate and Assembly in need of new leadership. And an early appointment for one Assembly member has already left another committee chairmanship up for grabs.

 In the state Senate, five committees lack a chair for the start of the new legislative session. Nearly every member of the Senate Democratic majority leads a committee. When Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins took over in 2018, she elevated several subcommittees to full committees to ensure that each of her members could lead a committee. The only exceptions are Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who does not chair a standing committee but serves on the powerful Rules Committee, and state Sen. Simcha Felder, who used to caucus with Republicans and currently chairs the bicameral Administrative Regulations Review Commission.

The chamber has 41 total standing committees. In 2025, the Democratic conference had a net loss of one member with the victory of Republican state Sen. Steve Chan over former state Sen. Iwen Chu. She chaired the Libraries Committee, though it’s unclear which – if any – of the chambers’ committees may be on the chopping block with one fewer member.

The state Senate also said goodbye to three other Democrats, leaving each of their committee seats open. Most notably, former state Sen. Neil Breslin retired last year, leaving both the Insurance Committee and the Ethics and Internal Governance Committee in need of new leadership. Former state Sen. Kevin Thomas was redistricted out of his seat, leaving behind the Committee on Consumer Protection. And Rep. John Mannion left the state Senate to join Congress, which means that the Committee on Disabilities requires new leadership. Minor shifts will be needed to fill vacancies and to welcome in new members.

The Assembly is different – with a Democratic majority of no fewer than 100 members for years, each individual Assembly Democrat is not guaranteed a committee chairmanship. That means not every Assembly Democrat who retired or lost election last year left a committee behind.

With the start of the new year, seven Assembly committees need official new chairs. The biggest vacancy was left by former Assembly Member Helene Weinstein, who had chaired the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which handles budget issues for the chamber. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie got a jump start to session by announcing to members that he would tap longtime Assembly Member Gary Pretlow as the committee’s new chair. The decision highlighted one of the most important factors in assigning chairmanships and general committee assignments: seniority.

Not all committees are created equal in either chamber. Ways and Means, and its Senate counterpart the Finance Committee, are two particularly powerful committees, thanks to their purview. State Sen. Liz Krueger, chair of the Finance Committee, is among the most senior members in the state Senate. Other committees like Health, Housing and Codes also hold significant sway in both chambers. The Rules Committee, chaired by the legislative leader in both chambers, is the most powerful, so assignment as a member to the committee is also a big deal. 

In the state Senate, members can get moved around to more powerful committees, even though nearly every member technically holds one such leadership position. In the Assembly, simply getting a chairmanship is a step up the leadership ladder, but it may take time to get to the committee of your choice or to get assigned one with more sway in the halls of power. Both chambers in recent years have lost some of their most senior members, welcoming in younger and oftentimes more diverse lawmakers – and leaving the one-time newbies to rise up the ranks themselves.

Pretlow’s shift to Ways and Means leaves his own Racing and Wagering Committee, which he has chaired for many years, vacant and in need of new leadership. Neither of the two most senior members of that committee – Assembly Members Angelo Santabarbara and Michaelle Solages – currently chair a full standing committee. Solages holds a prominent leadership position as the chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus. She told City & State late last year that she’s interested in chairing a legislative committee, but she didn’t say which one. 

Santabarbara may be interested in chairing another currently open committee, Mental Health, which former Assembly Member Aileen Gunther left vacant when she retired. He has championed disability rights issues, so the Mental Health Committee could be a natural fit – though he could instead end up chairing the People with Disabilities Committee if that committee’s current chair, Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, gets shifted somewhere else.

With now-state Sen. Patricia Fahy’s elevation to the state Senate, the Higher Education Committee is also in need of a new chair. Overseeing colleges and universities in New York, including its public university systems, the committee is an important one. With numerous members, including several higher up in the seniority rankings, competition for that committee chair position could be tough.

When former Assembly Member Kenneth Zebrowski left office last summer, he also left the Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee without a chair. Don’t let the commit’s esoteric name fool you; it oversees the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and is likely to play a particularly important role this year after legislative leaders rejected the agency’s 2025-2029 capital plan in order to sort out how to fund it. With a $33 billion hole that needs filling and pressure from MTA officials and the governor to get the five-year program underway, debates over public transit will dominate the start of the session.