The bills to watch in the last week of session in Albany

The budget is done, long live the normal legislative session. 

Or perhaps “short live” is more apt, considering that state lawmakers have just one post-budget legislative week to pass any number of members’ legislative priorities, in addition to typical end-of-session business like confirming gubernatorial nominations in the state Senate. 

The regularly scheduled legislative session is set to end on June 4, though lawmakers will likely roll over some final voting into June 5 before they head home for the year. Although legislative leaders have in the past extended the session for several more days – including last year – members facing reelection this year are eager to return to their districts ahead of the June 23 primary.

Legislators weren’t exactly pleased with the amount of time the budget negotiations dragged on this year, truncating the typical two-plus month period for legislating without Gov. Kathy Hochul in the driver’s seat. But the mad dash in the last week of session is hardly anything new, even if the circumstances this year are different. State lawmakers regularly pass hundreds of bills through both chambers in the waning days of the scheduled session, including some of the most controversial measures of the year. And this time doesn’t appear to be any different. 

Here are the items that we’re paying attention to that are competing for some of that coveted weeklong, post-budget attention.

Redistricting amendments

New York leaders have been frank for weeks: They won’t leave Albany for the year without passing a few constitutional amendments to tweak the state’s redistricting process. Then, they’ll decide next year which one to adopt for a second time and kick to voters on the 2027 ballot. 

As first reported by Politico New York, Democrats are poised to introduce a constitutional amendment to allow for mid-decade redistricting – something the state Constitution specifically prohibits – and another to ease restrictions on partisan gerrymandering. Both bills had not been introduced as of Monday afternoon.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has led the effort to urge Democrats to redraw their congressional districts to retaliate against Republican actions in other states. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to weaken the Civil Rights-era Voting Rights Act kicked off the national race for mid-decade redistricting as both parties attempt to draw partisan districts and give them an edge in House control.

Rep. Mike Lawler, who’s facing one of the most competitive midterm elections in the country in NY-17, traveled to Albany on Monday to blast Democrats’ latest efforts to alter redistricting in the state. “The only way they think they can beat me is if they gerrymander,” he said. New York Republicans and Democrats are pointing the finger at each other for starting the redistricting battle. Lawler said he’s confident both parties will spend millions to defeat, or pass, any statewide ballot proposal that goes to voters, including legal challenges. “Obviously, this is a national fight, I think everybody realizes that,” Lawler said, later adding: “That’s just a reality of where we are today.”

Anti-“anti-weaponization” legislation

Unlike the redistricting amendments, lawmakers have in fact introduced legislation meant to take aim at President Donald Trump’s nearly $2 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that would benefit those who claim the federal government unfairly investigated or persecuted them. Participants of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the White House are expected to receive most of the payouts. The bill from lawmakers would tax any payout from the fund to New Yorkers at a rate of 100%. But the new legislation takes attention and resources away from existing measures lawmakers have pushed for with limited time left in the session.

Packaging reduction

Another year, another attempt to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. After two straight years of near-misses in the Assembly, lawmakers are once again trying to combat extensive and deep-pocketed opposition efforts that have successfully kept the bill off the floor of the lower chamber. Among other things, the legislation would require a 30% reduction in single-use packaging and require the creation of what’s called an extended producer responsibility program that would put the recycling onus on plastic companies and other major corporations that create the most single-use packaging. 

Unlike past years, when the state Senate approved the bill earlier in the year, the upper chamber hasn’t yet acted on it this year. A recently amended version of the bill still has to make it through both houses, but the fight still boils down to the Assembly, where it may have the support – if it actually ever makes it to an actual vote. Legislators ran out of time last year after expecting it to come to the Assembly floor, and they appear willing to at least try again  after Democrats privately conferenced the legislation. The results of Heastie’s whip count – and therefore whether it will actually advance to a full chamber vote – remains uncertain.

AI data center moratorium

In another environmental priority, legislators are hoping to approve a three-year moratorium on building new data centers, which today are largely used for artificial intelligence data processing. Data centers are hugely energy intensive, and require massive amounts of water, resulting in significant negative environmental effects and strain on the state’s electrical grid at a time when it’s already in a state of crisis. During the three-year moratorium, the bill would require the state Department of Environmental Conservation to issue an environmental impact report on data centers, and the state Public Service Commission to issue its own report on the rate impacts of data centers. 

The state previously passed a similar multiyear pause on cryptocurrency mining projects, which also make use of data centers, for similar environmental and grid concerns.

Regulating surveillance pricing

New York business leaders aren’t pleased with state Attorney General Letitia James’ campaign to aggressively regulate surveillance pricing. She’s actively pushing for a series of bills that lawmakers have yet to consider, including new legislation known as the One Fair Price Act to ban surveillance pricing, or the act of companies using a consumer’s personal data to set individualized prices in real time. This follows a 2025 law that required businesses to disclose when they use algorithmic pricing. James’ office enforces that policy, and slaps a $1,000 penalty on businesses that fail to comply. But business leaders are vehemently against additional regulation, arguing shoppers will miss out on special deals and discounts. James is also urging the Legislature to pass a bill to prohibit the use of electronic shelf labels in grocery stores, pharmacies and other brick-and-mortar businesses that can change prices throughout the day.

Upstate rent control

This might be the year Democrats in Albany decide to expand rent stabilization outside New York City amid an ongoing housing crisis. Legislative leaders have indicated they’re exploring passing a measure to update the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974. Current law requires local governments to conduct a vacancy study to prove it has a housing vacancy rate of 5% or less to adopt rent stabilization. The proposed Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants, or REST Act, would let localities outside the five boroughs use more public data like rates of homelessness or eviction rates in place of a costly vacancy study to declare a housing emergency and impose local rent control. 

New York for All

Legislators may have won significant new immigrant protections in the state budget this year, but that won’t stop them from still trying to get the full New York for All Act that would cover what was left out of the final deal with Hochul. The sponsors and other supportive lawmakers and advocates have criticized the budget deal for failing to ban all forms of informal cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials. To accomplish that and more, they committed to continue pushing for the New York for All Act. But given the limited time left in the session, that the state has already approved a large immigrant protection package and how tense negotiations were to get to that point, the likelihood that legislative leaders would bring the bill to the floor of either chamber – and risk setting up another fight with the governor – is slim to none.

Delaying New York City class size mandates

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked the state to delay the full implementation of a law to reduce class sizes as a cost-saving measure as he attempts to balance his first budget. The measure fell out of budget negotiations, but a new bill from state Sen. John Liu has prepped the issue to get resolved before lawmakers go home for the year. The legislation would give the city an extra two years to adhere to the class size law, extending the deadline from 2028 to 2030, giving Mamdani some breathing room and savings.