Mad Rush

Good morning from Albany, New York, where the New York State Legislative Session is—man alive!—winding down. New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has been adamant, in public and in private, that the Senate will adjourn by June 13. The Assembly is looking at June 17, but that is subject to a little give-and-take and may slip a little longer.

What remains? Plenty. Although with the late budget, focus on chaos in Washington, and the unique politics of America, the situation is slow—very slow—in Albany. According to numbers from Dan Clark’s (very helpful and informative) Capitol Confidential, only 293 bills have made it through both chambers of the Legislature as of June 6th, including budget bills. However, on this same day last year, the Legislature had passed 653 bills through both chambers!

One major issue that will pass—perhaps as soon as today—is Medical Aid in Dying. The Senate will take up a bill allowing for terminally ill patients to end their lives with the assistance of a physician after Assemblymember and sponsor Amy Paulin muscled it through the lower chamber earlier this year. Asked about the bill’s prospects last week, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins offered, “It’s a conversation that has evolved considerably. I do believe there are the votes and that it’s likely to come to the floor.” Governor Hochul has yet to take a public position, but the legislation has a host of opposition, including from the New York State Catholic Conference. 

Facing a less certain fate is the NY HEAT Act. Senator Liz Kruger is preparing significant changes to the controversial bill to catalyze the state’s transition from natural gas. Renamed the “Customer Savings and Reliability Act,” the legislation would provide more flexibility for utilities to opt out of the transition and remove the provision that would have placed limits on gas utilities’ ability to expand their service area. Defending the changes, Kruger said, “There's some flexibility… We are confident that the vast majority of utilities will continue to move forward… We knew it wouldn’t happen overnight.” The proposal would still eliminate the “100-foot rule,” requiring utility ratepayers to cover the cost of new gas hookups.

Opponents of the bill are not sold on the changes, with Daniel Ortega, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, declaring: “While the environmental extremists and progressive members downstate are desperately attempting to rebrand NY HEAT with flowery language changes in the final hours of legislative session, without time for deliberate consideration or debate, the effort is just a makeover of the gas ban in disguise.”

Another bill bubbling up in the Assembly is a proposal to increase the weekly cap on payments for individuals on short-term disability. The current cap, $170 per week, has not been updated since 1989. Creating a version of paid medical leave to increase the weekly benefit has broad support among Democrats in the Legislature, and Hochul proposed an increase to short-term disability in her 2024 executive budget proposal, but the most recent version appears to be stalled in the Assembly after passing the Senate in March. Assembly sponsor Michaelle Solages said, “People are not taking it seriously that we need to be supporting people at their most vulnerable time, whether it’s cancer or a disability; we should be supporting folks when they need paid medical leave.” 

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act is very much alive. The legislation, which has faced intense opposition from groups like the Business Council and the American Chemistry Council, would require companies to pay fees based on the amount of packaging waste they generate and would require these companies to fund and oversee a new organization that would be responsible for fee collection and waste reduction initiatives. It would also require a 30% reduction in packaging over 12 years. The Business Council has proposed a compromise bill that enacts a version of the “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) but does not go as far as the requirements in the original. This—or some middling version—remains very much under consideration in the Assembly (it has passed the Senate). Environmental advocates and legislators are also discussing the expanded Bottle Bill and expect to hear more about it if the EPR measure fades.

A bill to allow for the sale of wine in grocery stores was amended to allow food stores larger than 4,000 square feet to apply to sell wine, and would allow liquor stores to sell snacks, tobacco, and drink mixers. The amendment also adds a provision that prevents supermarkets that sell wine from being within 500 feet of liquor stores. New York is one of ten states that do not allow for the sale of wine and liquor in grocery stores, and many policies in the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Law have not been updated since Prohibition. While still under discussion, this appears to be losing momentum.

At the same time, efforts to close a loophole around drugged driving also appear stalled. While alcohol-related crashes are still prevalent, drugged driving—involving cannabis and all other drugs, from fentanyl to amphetamines—is a significant and increasing threat, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The legislation would address the loophole by redefining the definition of illegal substances for driving—from cannabis and the state’s list of controlled substances to any substance that impairs a person's physical or mental abilities. This broader definition would enable law enforcement to bypass a legal requirement to specify the drug a driver was using and would also prohibit driving under the influence of novel designer drugs that are not included on the controlled substances list. Currently, in cases without serious injuries, drivers on any drug besides alcohol can avoid criminal charges if they refuse to take a blood, urine, or other chemical test. That differs from the law around drunken driving and can prevent the state from intervening before someone is injured, the NTSB says.

The law "lets people who are creating a very serious safety situation with their impairment off the hook," said Robert Sinclair, senior public affairs manager at AAA Northeast, as statewide data shows that the proportion of drivers who refused to take a test after being pulled over by trained officers has doubled over five years. The law’s backers—the governor and 78 legislators from both parties—say the new definition of "drugs" would be similar to the vast majority of other states’ and is recommended by the NTSB, but opponents argue the broad definition could lead to prosecution for benign substances or even mental health conditions and could be applied unevenly, pointing to a history of discrimination in policing. "I read that [new definition] to potentially cover having a morning cup of coffee, having an energy drink, having over-the-counter or prescribed medication," said Michael Sisitzky, assistant policy director at the New York Civil Liberties Union. "Pretty much anything could be swept within that definition." This was under consideration during budget negotiations and is now being considered as a stand-alone bill.

Momentum for—and lobbying and fear-mongering against—legislation known as the Responsible AI Safety and Education Act, or RAISE Act, sponsored by Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Alex Bores, continues to grow. The bill would require companies developing advanced AI models to have a third-party audited safety plan, disclose any critical safety incidents, and create protections for employees and whistleblowers who identify potential problems. The legislation does not apply to start-up companies or academic research but rather targets companies developing “frontier models” that are capable of causing mass casualties or over $1 billion in damage. This is exactly the type of responsible, balanced regulation this moment in the development of Artificial Intelligence calls for, and as such, continues to gather momentum. 

Similarly, support and momentum are building behind a major step in the effort to modernize New York State’s reading curriculum with evidence-based literacy practices. The specific focus is on establishing a Center for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia within the State Education Department. With as many as one in five children having dyslexia or another phonemic awareness issue, it is frightening that New York lacks a comprehensive statewide approach to identifying and addressing their needs. Educational research clearly demonstrates that early identification of dyslexia, coupled with intervention and multisensory sequential phonics instruction, drastically improves academic outcomes. The Center was a recommendation of the Dyslexia Task Force, and this year’s budget included $250,000 to launch the center. Advocates are optimistic this long-overdue center will become a reality this year.

Members of the influential Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus put their clout behind the passage of a slate of prison reform bills. The caucus members highlighted the beating deaths of two incarcerated men by corrections officers in separate New York State correctional facilities in Oneida County. The caucus is backing more than 20 previously introduced bills under the umbrella of the “Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice and Reform.” Proposed changes range from expanding diversion programs for individuals with mental health or substance issues to expanding parole eligibility and giving oversight groups more authority to investigate cases of alleged misconduct. Speaking about Brooks' assault being captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras, Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, leader of the caucus, said, “You know, we're seeing these instances (of violence) in a visual sense, and it really underscores that we need truth, oversight, and a systematic change.” The package, if passed and implemented, would hold correctional facilities more accountable for misconduct, implement sentencing reform, create safer conditions in prisons, and expand rehabilitation efforts. “This blueprint is not just merely a policy on paper,” Solages said. “We want to make sure that meaningful second chances and pathways to redemption are available and not death sentences. And we want to make sure that we're passing essential parole and sentencing reform, and ensuring that rehabilitation is triumphing over retribution.”

Several bills have seen a bigger push from criminal justice advocates in recent months. The Fair and Timely Parole Bill, for example, would remove a requirement that the parole board consider if an offense is so severe that parole would “undermine respect” for the law. The Second Look Act would allow judges to reconsider “excessive sentences” and allow individuals to share evidence of their rehabilitation.

Another bill is the “End Health Professional Complicity in Torture” bill, which would formally ban health workers from “participating in, facilitating, or failing to report” when incarcerated people are tortured in state prisons.

Last week, Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado made public what was an open secret in state politics and announced he will challenge his boss in the Democratic primary for governor. The relationship between the state’s top two Democrats had soured long before February when Delgado announced he would not be seeking reelection as Hochul’s running mate, subsequently losing access to his Capitol office and official state email address. In a well-done announcement video, the former Hudson Valley Congressman says, “It’s love of family, it’s love of community, it’s love of state, it’s love of country—and I’m dedicated to that. That’s why I’m running for governor of New York.” For all of Hochul’s perceived vulnerabilities, Delgado faces a steep uphill battle to unseat an incumbent governor, especially given the number of state Democrats who publicly closed ranks around Hochul since Delgado’s announcement. The Democratic Governors Association is standing firmly behind Hochul, saying in a statement, “The Governor knows how to take on big fights and win for New York families—and her agenda is overwhelmingly popular with New Yorkers on both sides of the aisle. The Democratic Governors Association is 100 percent behind Governor Hochul as she continues to deliver for New York, take on Donald Trump, and build the operation it will take to beat Republicans up and down the ballot in 2026.” Numerous elected officials, Democratic party officials, and even Rep. Tom Souzzi (D-NY), who himself mounted a primary challenge to Hochul in 2022, offered Delgado some free advice, declaring, “Antonio, you are a talented guy, with a great future. Based upon my experience, this may not be the most well-thought-out idea!” Nevertheless, the Delgado campaign released a memo outlining their path to victory which you can read here.

Republicans are also engaged in an intraparty squabble over their next gubernatorial candidate. Many had suspected Hudson Valley Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) to be the eventual candidate, but President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) nomination to serve as UN Ambassador changed that calculus. Since then, Stefanik has made no secret of the fact that she is exploring a run, and has tried to cast herself as more MAGA than Lawler. In a radio interview with Sid Rosenberg of WABC-AM, Stefanik said, “I have the strongest relationship with President Trump in the delegation. We are going to need those Trump voters, and it needs to be a candidate who excites those voters and is a close ally of President Trump.” Lawler, who has carved out a more moderate lane than Stefanik, responded to the thinly veiled criticism, appearing himself on the same show: “You can’t win a statewide election in New York just by pounding your chest and saying that you’re the most MAGA candidate.” Stefanik has the highest name recognition of any Republican in New York by far and has launched a political action committee (PAC) to raise money for GOP candidates in local races in New York. 

The Monday Morning Memo will be watching both races very, very closely.

-Jack O’Donnell

Client News

A great day for OD&A client, Alstom! Empire State Development Commissioner Hope Knight joined Alstom Americas Region President and CEO, Michael Keroullé and company officials to cut the ribbon last week on its new car body shell production facility in NY's Southern Tier!

Keroullé said, “Plant 4 reinforces (Alstom’s) strong commitment to American manufacturing" and job creation. "Good jobs are the foundation for thriving communities," he added. 

The expansion was made possible thanks to a $75 million investment from Governor Hochul and New York State that allowed the company to fulfill a major order with Chicago’s Metra commuter rail line. Read more!

OD&A in the Community

Do you support NY's Medical Aid in Dying Act, allowing for terminally ill patients to end their lives with the assistance of a healthcare professional?

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