Year End Legislative Update

This week, the Senate and Assembly held leadership votes for their respective houses, and both houses reelected their current leadership. In the Senate, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins was reelected as Majority Leader while Senator Rob Ortt was reelected as Minority Leader. In the Assembly, Assemblymember Carl Heastie was reelected as Speaker while Assemblymember Will Barclay was reelected as Minority Leader. These leadership reelections will not become finalized until the new session convenes and a vote of the newly elected members in both houses is held on the floor. This vote will take place the first day of the legislative session, Wednesday, January 4, 2023.

Several of the legislative races are still undergoing a hand recount, but all should be officially decided by December 15. There will be no announcement regarding committee chairs or other leadership roles before this process concludes in either house. We anticipate that the information on new committee chairs will not be released until the end of December at the earliest. However, we will share any information on this front as soon as we hear anything.

We do not anticipate that the legislature will return until January 4th, but there are rumors circulating that the legislature could reconvene sooner than that to vote on a legislative pay raise. For a pay raise to take effect for the 2023 legislative session, the current legislature has to vote to approve it by December 31. If this does not happen, the earliest a new pay raise could take effect is January 1, 2025. The prospect of a return to vote on a pay raise also raises the possibility that the legislature could take up other issues if they were to return. As indicated, this is all rumor right now, but we are following it closely and will let you know what a potential return for a special session could mean for issues of importance to you.

Governor Kathy Hochul’s inauguration will take place on Sunday, January 1, 2023 in Albany. She will hold her first State of the State address on Tuesday, January 10, where she will outline her priorities and agenda for the upcoming session. Her first proposed budget is due by February 1, 2023, and we anticipate that her budget presentation outlining her budget will take place in late January.

As always, we will keep you posted on any and all developments. Please let us know if you have any questions, and we wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.
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