New York State Legislature

As New Yorkers choked through another day of poor air quality – driven by ongoing Canadian wildfires – another environmental threat looms, this one found in the state’s surface waters. The threat of “harmful algal blooms,” which can jeopardize drinking water supplies and the public’s health, is spreading across the state.

As the New York State legislative session came to a close last week, state lawmakers voted to repeal a decades-old policy referred to as the “100-foot-rule.” Christopher Casey, Utility Regulatory Director for New York for the Natural Resources Defense Council calls the repeal overdue.

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the state Assembly wrapped up its 2025 legislative session, a week after the state Senate finished. In many ways the legislative session was a typical one: The budget was late (the latest in 15 years), lawmakers held campaign fundraising events in the capital district (at least 176 for the 42 nights that state elected officials planned to be in Albany) or were held by leadership, and hundreds of bills were approved in a flurry of activity in both houses.

Last week, New York’s State Senate wrapped up its legislative session. During the session, the Senate approved nearly 1,750 bills. In order for those proposals to become law, the state Assembly must approve identical legislation.

New York State’s Legislative Session technically ended Thursday, but there’s still work to be done. Lawmakers worked through the night Thursday to wrap up negotiations, but hundreds of bills remain up in the air. WAMC spoke with reporter Jimmy Vielkind of the New York Public News Network for an update on negotiations.

It is often said that budgets are about priorities: There are unlimited demands but only limited available resources. What you fund is what you think is most important.

April showers bring May flowers, but so far New York State’s budget – due by April 1st – is still not done. Despite an announcement last week by Governor Hochul that there was a budget agreement, things are not wrapped up and the hope is that a final budget will be put to bed this week.

New York State has a budget. Or at least that’s what Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul announced Monday.

Governor Hochul and state lawmakers are reportedly finally moving towards finalizing a state budget. Once that work is complete, the Legislature’s attention will be debating “non-budget” bills between now and the scheduled end of the session on June 12th.

Governor Hochul and state lawmakers continued to haggle over a state budget, now two weeks overdue, and ended up approving a fourth budget extender last week. Albany’s sleepwalking approach to budget-making stood in stark contrast to the flurry of action from the Trump Administration.