Here are the high-profile bills Hochul has yet to act on

With the year winding down, Gov. Kathy Hochul has begun working her way through hundreds of bills approved by state lawmakers during the legislative session. In all, both chambers approved 856 bills, more than half of which Hochul has already acted on. She now has 347 bills to either sign or veto before the end of the year.

The governor technically has 10 days, minus Sundays, to act on legislation delivered to her by the Legislature. Otherwise, it automatically becomes law. But that rarely happens, as legislative leaders generally wait to deliver a bill to the governor until she is ready to act on it and calls it up. Any bills Hochul doesn’t act on before the end of the year get another month at the start of the new year. If the governor still hasn’t acted on them when that month is up, they are automatically vetoed. 

So far, Hochul has signed 429 bills and vetoed only seven, not including line items from the budget. Those first vetoes came just last week, and state Sen. James Skoufis sponsored all seven bills that Hochul rejected. Skoufis has not hidden his displeasure with the governor and has publicly criticized her on multiple occasions. Most recently, he has led the charge into investigating the troubled administrative transition of a popular home care program. Skoufis charged that the vetoes were retaliatory, which Hochul has denied.

Vetoes are often contentious, with negotiations playing out behind the scenes to reach a compromise before the governor takes action on a bill. Sometimes, they work out through chapter amendments lawmakers agree to make. Other times, the discussions still end with a veto. A number of high-profile bills still await action from Hochul as the clock runs out on negotiation time.

This list was last updated on Oct. 15.

PENDING BILLS

Medical Aid in Dying 

Easily the most controversial bill passed this year, the Medical Aid in Dying Act would allow certain terminally ill New Yorkers with an estimated six months or less to live to end their own lives with the assistance of a doctor. Advocates for the measure have been among the most dogged lobbyists in Albany for the past several years, achieving their first victory when it passed both chambers this year. But the measure has its detractors, including religious groups and some disability rights and doctors’ groups, as well as those who just have moral qualms about suicide. Both sides of the issue have continued to lobby the governor’s office in hopes she either signs or vetoes the measures. So far, Hochul has not indicated which way she is leaning.

Prison reform omnibus bill

Amid outrage over the beating death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility by corrections officers and a weeks-long strike by corrections officers earlier this year, discussions about prison reform took center stage. Passed at the end of the legislative session, this omnibus reform bill consists of 10 different measures, including expanded oversight and transparency measures. The bill was the result of a two-way agreement between Assembly and state Senate leaders and does not include any parole or sentencing reform measures that criminal justice reform advocates had pushed for. Since the governor was not a part of the negotiations to pass the bill, it’s uncertain whether she will sign it, veto it or ask for changes. Hochul recently declined to discuss the status of the legislation when asked how she might act on it.

Upstate judicial redistricting

This may not be congressional reapportionment, but that doesn’t make it any less thorny. In a bid to create a more representative bench, this bill would create three new judicial districts in the Fourth Judicial Department and tweak the three that already exist there. Monroe, Erie and Onondaga Counties – home to the region’s largest and most diverse cities and towns – would each get their own districts. Currently, urban and rural areas share courts in a way that lawmakers say dilutes representation for communities of color. Republicans allege that the measure is simply meant to decrease conservative influence in the courts. 

Keep Police Radio Public Act

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris managed to pass this bill last year in the state Senate, and Assembly Member Karines Reyes got it over the finish line this year in her own chamber. The legislation would prevent law enforcement agencies in the state from encrypting their radio communications without ensuring that other emergency service workers and journalists still have access. It’s meant to ensure a degree of continued transparency when it comes to reporting on police activities and to provide crucial real-time information to emergency services outside law enforcement.

New York Health Information Privacy Act

One of a package of bills pushed for by the Bipartisan Pro-Choice Legislative Caucus to protect access to reproductive health care, the measure would regulate the collection and selling of health information by third-party organizations. There are currently few, if any, protections for consumers who may have their health data used without their knowledge. A memo from the bill’s sponsors specifically mentioned a recent case in which a period tracking app sold data to an anti-abortion group. Under the proposed law, any app or website would need to receive affirmative consent from a user before saving and retaining their health information data. 

Transgender shield law 2.0

The state previously passed laws to protect access to gender-affirming and reproductive health care by shielding health professionals who provide it to out-of-state patients where such care may be illegal. According to a bill memo from the sponsors, the laws need updating to “better respond to the new threats and tactics” that conservative states have deployed since 2022 and 2023 and may deploy in the future. Earlier this year, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law in Tennessee banning gender-affirming care for minors. 

Freedom to Read Act

In response to an increasing number of school districts in conservative areas and GOP-led states banning or limiting access to certain books for children – particularly those involving same-sex couples, gender identity and unsavory parts of U.S. history – state lawmakers passed the Freedom to Read Act. Although it’s less of an issue in New York, the legislation is meant to ensure that access to reading materials won’t be curtailed by potentially conservative school boards. According to the bill language, it would empower library staff to create the “widest array  of developmentally appropriate materials” as is feasible.

FAIR Business Practices Act

Pushed for by state Attorney General Letitia James and former Federal Trade Commission head Lina Khan, the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices Act aims to crack down on “abusive or unfair” business practices. That would expand current protections against “deceptive” business practices and permit the attorney general to take action against businesses that engage in such practices. Supporters of the legislation say the measure is particularly needed now, as the Trump administration has promised regulatory rollbacks that would make it harder to hold bad actors accountable at the federal level.

NY HEAT (lite)

State Democratic lawmakers have received criticism from environmental advocates in recent years for failing to advance a number of high-profile environmental and climate bills, even as New York struggles to hit greenhouse gas reduction and electrification benchmarks set in law. The NY HEAT Act has been a major priority for environmental activists, but legislators only managed to reach a compromise at the end of the legislative session this year for an extremely scaled down version of the bill, which would only repeal a rule that currently gives gas companies a subsidy for new gas hookups within 100 feet of an existing hookup. Both the original NY HEAT Act and a different pared down version would have done much more, including ending or amending the state’s obligation to serve. Hochul has included an end to the 100-foot rule in her executive budget in the past, so she may be inclined to sign the very limited measure passed by lawmakers.

RAISE Act

Hochul has the opportunity to sign into law new artificial intelligence regulations approved by lawmakers, despite last-minute lobbying against it by the industry. The Responsible AI Safety and Education would require the largest companies developing AI models to include safety precautions against misuse of the technology, including the creation of bioweapons or automated crime. Hochul has strongly backed other regulations for the tech industry involving social media use by children, but she also has sought to attract more AI development and talent to New York, which may be hindered by this proposal.

NYC ballot questions

In a bid to curtail some powers of the New York City mayor, state lawmakers passed legislation that would prevent a mayor from bumping City Council-derived referendums from the ballot in favor of referendums that originated with the mayor’s office. Mayor Eric Adams employed that power this year much to the chagrin of Council leaders, who went to Albany in search of relief. If Hochul signs the bill, it would not impact proposals on the ballot this year, but would stop future mayors from calling charter revision commissions simply to block the Council’s proposals from getting onto the ballot.

VETOED BILLS

Freedom of Information request timelines

One of the seven bills sponsored by state Sen. James Skoufis and vetoed by Hochul, this legislation sought to improve the FOIL process by establishing maximum deadlines for state agencies to respond to requests. Over the course of three years, the current deadline of 180 days would be shortened to 60 days. In her veto memo, Hochul said she supports increasing transparency but called the bill as passed “unworkable.” The governor said the bill set "arbitrary" deadlines and failed to provide additional resources to agencies so they can fulfill FOIL requests more quickly. 

Grocery delivery pricing

Another Skoufis bill vetoed by Hochul would have required grocery stores and other food retailers to include the price differences between items bought in-store and those purchased online for delivery. The proposal would not have prevented stores from marking up prices online, but it would have required them to disclose that markup to consumers. Hochul said in her veto message that providing real-time price comparisons to online delivery services would be “operationally challenging” for stores.