Governor signs round of bills passed by state legislators
As of this week, Gov. Kathy Hochul has enacted 774 bills passed in the 2023-24 legislative session. Three bills await her signature and she has vetoed 114.
Below are summaries of select laws and the votes cast by Republican Rob Rolison (whose Senate district includes the Highlands), Democrat Dana Levenberg (whose Assembly district includes Philipstown) and Democrat Jonathan Jacobson (whose Assembly district includes Beacon).
Election years
On Dec. 22, Hochul signed legislation that will move elections in towns such as Philipstown and counties such as Dutchess — but not cities such as Beacon, where elections can only be changed through a constitutional amendment — to even-numbered years to align with state and national elections.
The law excludes the offices of county sheriff, county clerk, county district attorney, judges, town justices or any office with a three-year term, such as those of Putnam County legislators. It also does not affect villages such as Cold Spring and Nelsonville, an exemption the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials says it lobbied for with the bill’s sponsors.
Anybody in office on Jan. 1, 2025, will complete their full term, but those elected after Jan. 1, 2025, will have their terms shortened to align with an even-numbered year.
Practically this will move the Philipstown election (two of the four Town Board seats, the highway commissioner and the town clerk, 4-year terms) from 2031 to 2030 and the town supervisor (2-year term) from 2027 to 2026.
The move does not affect the Putnam County executive, whose four-year term is on the ballot in even-numbered years and next up in 2026.
Dutchess County legislators serve two-year terms and were last elected this past November; the 2027 election will move to 2026. The next two elections for county executive, a four-year position that was also on the ballot in November, will take place in 2027 and 2030.
Passed by Senate, 39-23 | Rolison No
Passed by Assembly, 89-57 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Electric bills
On Dec. 22, Hochul signed legislation sponsored in the Assembly by Jacobson that bans utilities such as Central Hudson from “back billing” for services delivered to homes and small businesses more than three months earlier. The law also requires utilities to include the previous 13 months of usage charges with each bill.
“For more than two years, customers of Central Hudson have been plagued with non-billing, late billing, inaccurate bills and excessive use of estimated billing,” Jacobson said in a statement. “This new law is an important step in alleviating this intolerable situation. Utilities have a simple responsibility to bill timely and in a transparent manner.”
Passed by Senate, 48-13 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 132-12 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Horse meat
On Dec. 13, the National Day of the Horse, Hochul signed a law that prohibits the slaughter of horses for human or animal consumption. Violators can be fined up to $2,500 per horse.
After Congress banned the USDA from inspecting horse meat in 2007, and U.S. slaughterhouses closed, tens of thousands of horses were exported to Canada for slaughter, mostly to sell the meat in Europe and Japan. By 2021, that number had dropped to 23,000, according to the Humane Society.
According to the group Equine Advocates, California, Texas, Illinois and New Jersey and other states ban only human consumption; the Humane Society says that “U.S. horse meat is dangerous to humans because of the unregulated administration of numerous toxic substances.” The legislation takes effect on April 11.
Passed by Senate, 60-1 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 105-43 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
A second bill signed on Dec. 22 by Hochul updates a 1965 law to increase the fines for selling a disabled or sick horse at auction from $5 to $1,000 and extends the protection to mules and donkeys.
Passed by Senate, 58-0 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 124-20 | Jacobson Yes, Levenberg Yes
Autorenews
On Dec. 13, Hochul enacted legislation that requires companies to notify customers of automatic subscription renewals 45 days before the charge and to provide clear instructions for canceling. (On Dec. 20, the state attorney general sued Sirius/XM Radio, alleging it has “deliberately long and burdensome cancellation processes”; it cited Sirius/XM data that it took customers an average of 11.5 minutes to cancel by phone and 30 minutes to cancel online.)
Passed by Senate, 58-0 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 148-0 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Checkout fees
Hochul on Dec. 13 signed a law that allows merchants to have separate pricing for cash versus credit-card sales. However, both prices must be displayed, such as on the price sticker, and the surcharge cannot be more than what the credit card processor charges (e.g., 3 percent). The law codifies a 2018 decision by a state court that ruled merchants who charge more for credit-card purchases must provide the cash and credit prices in “dollar and cents.” It takes effect Feb. 11.
Passed by Senate, 62-0 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 148-0 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Lead pipes
On Dec. 20, Hochul signed legislation that requires water utilities to publicly share the number and location of any distribution lines made of lead.
Passed by Senate, 57-4 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 105-35 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Hunting contests
On Dec. 22, Hochul signed legislation that makes it illegal to organize or compete in a contest that offers prizes for killing wildlife such as coyotes, crows, squirrels and rabbits, but excluding white-tailed deer, turkeys, fish and bears, whose populations are regulated by the state.
Passed by Senate, 46-15 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 88-53 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
New judges
On Dec. 22, Hochul enacted a law that adds a judge to state courts in Brooklyn, Queens and the 9th District (which includes Dutchess, Putnam and three other counties and will now have 34 justices), as well as to family, city and civil courts in New York City, in response to a backlog of cases from the pandemic shutdown.
Passed by Senate, 61-1 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 147-0 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
LLC ownership
On Dec. 23, Hochul signed a law to create a database of the owners of limited liability corporations that will be accessible to government agencies and local, state and federal law enforcement. The original bill would have created a database open to the public but Hochul, citing privacy concerns, used a “chapter amendment” to remove public access. The vote was for the original bill.
Passed by Senate, 41-21 | Rolison No
Passed by Assembly, 89-55 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Reparations
On Dec. 19, Hochul signed legislation to create a nine-member “community commission on reparations remedies” for the descendants of enslaved people. The commission will issue a report within 12 months after its first meeting with recommendations “to address longstanding inequities.”
Passed by Senate, 41-21 | Rolison No
Passed by Assembly, 105-42 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Creating a village
On Dec. 22, Hochul has signed a bill that tightens the regulations for creating a village, increasing the population required from 500 to 1,500. (The area must also be under 5 square miles and not already part of a village or city. In 1998, a group of disaffected residents created the Garrison Village Association to explore this option for the hamlet.) Any proposals for villages will also require a study to measure the potential impact on taxes, finances and services.
Passed by Senate, 39-23 | Rolison No
Passed by Assembly, 86-49 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Medical debt
On Dec. 13, Hochul enacted a law that bans charging “unconscionably excessive” prices for prescription drugs when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declares a shortage. The bill came out of workshops on improving health care access for Latinos by the Assembly’s Puerto Rican Hispanic Task Force during a legislative conference in 2011.
Passed by Senate, 62-0 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 147-1 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Hochul also signed a law on Dec. 13 that bans hospitals, health care professionals and ambulances from reporting debt charged to a medical credit card to credit agencies. According to a 2023 study from the Urban Institute, 740,000 New Yorkers have medical debt on their reports, with people of color twice as likely to have medical debt referred to an agency and low-income people three times as likely.
Passed by Senate, 50-8 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 109-38 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Unlicensed drivers
On Dec. 12, Hochul signed Angelica’s Law, which allows prosecutors to charge a driver with five or more license suspensions with felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree, which includes a prison term of up to two years. The bill was named for Angelica Nappi of Long Island, who was struck and killed at age 14 in 2008 by a driver who had five previous suspensions. The law also requires that drivers be notified after their fifth suspension that they could be charged with a felony. It goes into effect on Nov. 1.
Passed by Senate, 61-0 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 141-2 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Biomarkers
On Dec. 22, Hochul signed legislation that requires state-regulated insurance plans, including Medicaid, to cover biomarker testing to assist in the treatment of cancer. It takes effect on April 1.
Passed by Senate, 61-0 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 143-2 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Pesticides
On Dec. 22, Hochul signed into law the Birds and Bees Protection Act, which prohibits the use of certain pesticide (neonics) on corn, soybean and wheat seeds or on ornamental plants and turf.
Passed by Senate, 45-16 | Rolison No
Passed by Assembly, 99-46 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Prescription drugs
On Dec. 22, Hochul signed legislation that allows pharmacists to administer long-acting injectable medication used to treat the symptoms of mental health or substance use disorders, and preferable in many cases to relying on a patient to take pills. It takes effect April 1.
Passed by Senate, 60-1 | Rolison Yes
Passed by Assembly, 146-0 | Jacobson Yes Levenberg Yes
Your coverage of “how they voted” is a tremendous service to the residents who are represented by these officials. Very often the politicians will say anything to get elected but the real test comes when they get into office and are actually able to vote on these measures.
Often I am shocked by how some of my representatives voted, especially Mike Lawler who has turned out to be rather a disappointment. On the other hand, I have been pleasantly surprised at Sen. Rolison whose voting record is more in keeping with his election promises. Keep up the good work!