The bills to watch in the final week of session

Summer may be beautiful in Albany, but state lawmakers won’t be around to see it. The state Senate is set to finish Thursday, though the final voting is expected to bleed into Friday. The Assembly tacked on a few extra days to complete its work on Tuesday of next week. So it’s crunch time in both chambers before legislators head back to their districts for the year.

The ticking clock means that time is running out for a number of high-profile and consequential measures to get approved this year. Advocates and lawmakers alike are racing to get as many of their priorities done this year, lest they wait another six months to try again (barring a special session later to address federal spending cuts). Here are some of the top bills to watch out for as lawmakers approach the session’s finish line.

Medical Aid in Dying Act

Following the Assembly’s passage in April, the state Senate is set to approve legislation that would permit terminally ill patients to end their lives with assistance from a doctor, in a historic first. This would be the first time that lawmakers passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act in both chambers after years of concerted advocacy in the state Capitol. Although polling shows strong support for the measure, ethical and religious concerns mean that it remains controversial. A number of Democrats voted against it in the Assembly, and it faces strong opposition from the Catholic Church. Bill sponsor state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal said that he has spoken informally with the governor about the bill and expressed optimism about her signing it, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has not explicitly said where she stands on the measure or what her position is on assisted suicide more generally.

Prison and parole reforms

Since the death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility at the hands of corrections officers in December, legislators and prisoner advocates have pushed for a series of reforms to increase accountability in state prisons. Last week, the powerful Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus unveiled the Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice and Reform, which includes nearly two dozen bills. A dozen of them are focused specifically on transparency and accountability, including a measure to expand the authority of the Correctional Association of New York, the independent body with oversight over prisons. Other bills would require more corrections officers to wear body cameras, create a Correctional Ombudsman Office and permit the corrections commissioner to discipline corrections officers directly in serious cases. Right now, any disciplinary action must be decided by an outside arbitrator and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is rarely able to fire people for serious misconduct or abuse.

The extensive plan also includes a series of parole reform bills that criminal justice advocates have attempted to pass for several years – the Fair and Timely Parole, Elder Parole and Earned Time Acts – which would expand access to parole for incarcerated individuals. 

Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act

Environmental advocates are pushing hard for legislation aimed at reducing plastic packaging in the state by 30% over the next 12 years. Legislators have amended the legislation several times in order to address concerns from business interests and others who oppose the bill. It has already passed in the state Senate, as it has in the past, and advocates are optimistic that it will make it through the Assembly for the first time before lawmakers go home for the year. The bill came close to passing the Assembly last year, so barring an end-of-session surprise, it seems likely to come to a vote this time. But the opposition to the bill has been stronger than ever before from the Business Council of New York State, the plastics industry and the Teamsters, who were in the state Capitol on Monday to rally against the measure. Big businesses, including fossil fuel companies, that stand to lose money under the bill’s provisions have spent big on lobbying. And for the first time, lawmakers have introduced a scaled-back alternative bill with support from the industry, which could reduce support for the one backed by environmentalists.

NY HEAT Act

Another top priority for environmental advocates, this measure aims to make utilities cheaper for low- and middle-income New Yorkers and disincentivize new gas hookups, as a means to help the state phase out fossil fuels and hit its climate goals. Much like the plastics legislation, it has previously passed the state Senate (and did so again this year) but has never made it through the Assembly. Its fate in the lower chamber seems uncertain again this year. Democrats have discussed the measure in closed-door meetings, but they do not appear to have reached a consensus yet. If the bill does get approved in the Assembly, it will likely be with changes that would require the state Senate to similarly amend its version and pass it again.

AI regulations

As Republicans in Congress attempt to prevent states from passing their own artificial intelligence regulations, lawmakers in Albany are nonetheless plugging along with legislation that would put restrictions and safeguards on the emerging technology. Officials are pushing three main bills. The RAISE Act would require developers to include safety protocols when creating new AI machine learning models, the New York AI Act aims to combat discrimination in machine learning and would institute certain ethics requirements and the Artificial Intelligence Training Data Transparency Act would require that companies be transparent about the data used to train their generative AI models. But the tech industry is lobbying hard against the measures. Even if the bills successfully pass the Legislature, they could be watered down following passage. Last year, a bill that was meant to regulate the use of AI in state government underwent extensive changes after it passed before the governor agreed to sign it.

Grieving Families Act

Lawmakers are once again poised to approve a bill to update the state’s wrongful death statute. It already made it through the state Senate, and it advanced in committee in the Assembly last week, setting it up for action before the end of the legislative session. This will be the fourth time that the bill has passed the Legislature.  Hochul has already vetoed the measure three times, citing concerns about unintended consequences. The sponsors have made a number of changes to the measure over the past few years in an attempt to address concerns raised by the governor, insurance providers and hospitals, but it has not satisfied the bill’s opponents. This year, lawmakers did not make any additional amendments, with the state Senate instead passing the same language as last year and the Assembly set to follow. Unless Hochul has had a change of heart since the last veto, it seems likely this year will end much the same as those past.

New York for All Act

The increased presence of federal immigration officers at federal courthouses and the ensuing arrests of immigrants attending required immigration court appearances have renewed outrage over the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. The president’s almost unprecedented decision to deploy the California National Guard without state approval to help quell protests over deportations, and his threats to order U.S. Marines to deploy to Los Angeles, has many on edge as well. Immigrant advocates have urged legislators to pass the New York for All Act, which would codify existing sanctuary immigrant protections into law and expand them to apply to municipalities around the state. Calls for the bill’s passage have increased since President Donald Trump’s election, but legislative leaders have not given any public indication that they will bring the sweeping bill to a vote before the end of the legislative session.