New York State

The 2019 session countdown

In this year’s session countdown, we identify the biggest bills that are still up for debate – and assess how likely they are to pass in the final weeks of the session.

The New York State Senate. Mike Groll

| May 25, 2019

May 25, 2019

In the early weeks of the state legislative session, newly empowered Democrats passed one progressive bill after another: election reforms, protections for transgender New Yorkers, codifying Roe v. Wade in state law, the Child Victims Act, the state DREAM Act, gun control, a statewide plastic bag ban and on and on.

But as the easier bills advanced, other policy proposals have proven to be more intractable. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers are trying to legalize recreational marijuana, but they still haven’t gotten on the same page. The governor called for raising the cap on charter schools in New York City, but many of his fellow Democrats aren’t interested. Other issues – creating a single-payer health care system, scrapping the admission test for New York City’s elite high schools, legalizing mobile sports gambling – may face even longer odds this session.

In this year’s session countdown, we identify the biggest bills that are still up for debate – and assess how likely they are to pass in the final weeks of the session. Here's everything you need to know, as we get closer to the session's end.