2025 Legislative Session Outline

New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have announced Committee Chairs for their respective houses.

Senator Patricia A. Fahy and Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara were recently named chairs of the Senate Standing Committee on Disabilities and Assembly Committee on People with Disabilities, respectively.

The complete list of Majority Committee Chairs in the Senate can be viewed here and the complete list of Majority Leadership Positions and Committee Chairs in the Assembly can be viewed here.

Wednesday, January 8, marks the start of the 2025 Legislative Session, which is the first year of the two-year legislative cycle. Please find the 2025 legislative calendar here.

While no statewide offices or state legislators are up for reelection this year; primary and general elections will be held for several local races. The most notable local race will be for New York City Mayor; several State Legislators will be on the ballot for the Democratic primary election on June 24th, including Senator Zellnor Myrie, Senator Jessica Ramos, and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani. The general election will take place on Tuesday, November 4th.

Information on all newly elected members of Congress, the State Senate, and State Assembly can be found here.

Below, we have assembled some helpful items for your reference as this year’s Legislative Session gets underway.

2025 State Of The State Address

Governor Kathy Hochul will deliver her State of the State Address on Tuesday, January 14th at 1:00 p.m., in the Hart Theater at The Egg. The Address will be livestreamed on the Governor’s website. Please note, the Governor’s State of the State Address will be separate from the Executive Budget presentation. We will update you once information regarding the Executive Budget presentation becomes available.

Governor Hochul has announced her initial State of the State proposals, focusing on implementing affordability measures that would:

  • Provide individuals earning less than $150,000 with a $300 rebate check and families earning less than $300,000 with a $500 rebate check;
  • Expand access to the Child Tax Credit program and increase the maximum benefit for children under four from $330 to $1,000; and
  • Expand access and affordability of child care by establishing a $110 million Child Care Construction fund, create a “substitute pool” of professionals, and establish the New York Coalition for Child Care.

Governor Hochul stated that she will continue State of the State previews in the days leading up to the official State of the State Address on January 14th.

We will send a client-wide update as soon as the Governor’s office issues the full State of the State outline and briefing book, and your lobbyist will share items of interest with you directly

FY 2026 Executive Budget

The constitutional deadline for submission of the Executive Budget is Tuesday, January 21st. According to the previously released mid-year updated New York State Financial Plan, the State currently has record-level reserves and the General Fund receipts are $1.2 billion above projections.

Once the Executive Budget is submitted, Governor Hochul will have the opportunity to submit amendments after 21 days and 30 days.

NYS Senate Overview

The Senate Democratic Majority Conference, led by Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, lost their supermajority but continue to hold a majority in the chamber with 41 members. There will be four new members to the Senate Democratic Conference: Siela Bynoe will be replacing Senator Kevin Thomas following his retirement, former Assemblymember Patricia Fahy will be replacing Senator Neil Breslin following his retirement, Chris Ryan will be replacing Senator John Mannion who has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and April Baskin is replacing Senator Tim Kennedy who has also been elected the U.S. House of Representatives. All four departing senators served as Committee Chairs. Majority-Leader Stewart-Cousins appointed Senator Jeremy Cooney to serve as Chair of the Senate Transportation following Senator Kennedy’s Special Election victory in April. However, new Chairs will need to be appointed for the following committees:

  • Consumer Protections (formerly chaired by Sen. Thomas);
  • Disabilities (formerly chaired by Sen. Mannion); and
  • Ethics and Internal Governance, and Insurance (both formerly chaired by Sen. Breslin).

The Republican Minority Conference, led by Minority Leader Robert Ortt, has 22 members. Stephen Chan will be the only new member in the Senate Republican Conference. He replaces Democratic Senator Iwen Chu, who he defeated in the General Election.

Biographies on all new Senate members may be viewed here.

NYS Assembly Overview

The Democratic Majority Conference, led by Speaker Carl Heastie, continues to hold a supermajority in the chamber with 103 members and will welcome 14 new members in 2025. There were a number of retirements in the Democratic Conference following the end of session in 2024, notably including longtime Ways and Means Committee Chair Helene Weinstein. Media reports have indicated that Speaker Carl Heastie intends to announce Gary Pretlow as the new Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. A handful of other Assembly committees will need new chairs, including:

  • Corporations, Authorities & Commissions;
  • Higher Education;
  • Mental Health; and
  • Tourism, Parks, Arts & Sports Development.

Additionally, a new Speaker Pro Tempore will need to be appointed following the retirement of Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, who served as the voice of the Assembly for over a decade.

Speaker Heastie can announce all appointments after he is sworn in as Speaker of Assembly on the first day of the Legislative Session.

The Republican Minority Conference, led by Minority Leader William Barclay, has 47 members. There were also some notable retirements in the Republican Conference, including Assemblymember Andy Goodell, the longtime second-in-command of the Republican Conference. Minority Leader Barclay has elevated Assembly Member Mary Beth Walsh into the role of Minority Leader Pro Tempore; she was previously the conference’s third-highest ranking member.

Biographies on all new Assembly members can be viewed here.

Legislative Rules on Bill Introductions

When a new two-year legislative session begins in the New York State Legislature, all bills from the previous two-year session that were not passed into law expire. This means that any legislation introduced in the prior session that did not advance or receive final approval will not automatically carry over to the new session.

To be considered again, legislators must reintroduce these bills. If a legislator retired or wasn’t re-elected, a new legislator must sponsor the bills for reintroduction. Reintroducing a bill means it is assigned a new bill number and must once again go through the legislative process, including committee referrals, hearings, and votes. This process ensures that legislation aligns with the priorities and composition of the newly convened Legislature.

Legislative Reports

OA will continue to send Weekly Bill Reports every Friday throughout the legislative session. Committee Reports will resume as agendas are released.

Weekly Bill Reports are sent every Friday morning during session and show all new bill introductions and all actions on tracked legislation, such as amendments, movement through committees, floor votes, chapters, and vetoes. Each report covers a seven-day period from the previous Friday to Thursday of each week.

Once committee meetings resume each week, Committee Reports will be sent every Friday afternoon and include any tracked legislation that is scheduled to be considered in committees during the upcoming week.

Please note that if you do not receive these reports, there has been no movement on your tracked legislation within the weekly reporting period or the committee agendas for the week do not contain any of your tracked legislation.

NYS Legislative Reference Guides

We expect the 2025 NYS Legislative Reference Guide to be printed in February or March. Clients will receive a copy of the book from OA as soon as they become available.