The dust is still settling on last week’s midterm elections; but one conclusion is quite clear: Voters resoundingly rejected the performance and behavior of the Trump Administration. And the party that supported him – Republicans – paid a big price.

From coast to coast, Democratic candidates won, particularly in “purple” and “red” states. Democrats’ big Congressional majorities are the result of sweeping out moderate, and even conservative, candidates in seats that were up for grabs.

Here in “blue” New York, the election went more-or-less as was expected. Democrats took all of the statewide races, as they have for nearly a quarter of a Century, and took big majorities in both the state Senate and Assembly. Of course, the national blue wave impacted Democratic candidates in New York: The legislative majorities got bigger, in fact perhaps the largest in modern times. Democrats retook seats in New York City. One Republican member of Congress in a “purple” district in the Hudson Valley was swept away. Two Congressional Republicans on Long Island seem to have barely hung on.

While the final results are not in, both Washington and Albany have to focus on the tasks at hand. Congress is expected to return for a “lame duck” session. And closer to home Governor Hochul has to tackle 388 bills that are waiting on her desk for approval (there were a total of 759 bills passed in the 2026 session).

Among those hundreds of bills are many that are narrow in their impact and others that could make a significant difference in New Yorkers’ lives. Here are three:

Lawmakers approved legislation that would require sellers to furnish warnings that gas and propane stoves used for commercial or residential food cooking emit poisonous gases hazardous to human health, which can cause or worsen respiratory problems.  Warning labels would be required on products and display signs/posters, and notices required for online sales.

Studies now point to gas stove emissions as having serious negative medical impacts by degrading indoor air-quality. Gas stoves emit carbon monoxide (CO poisoning hospitalizes 100,000 Americans yearly), benzene and formaldehyde (which pose cancer risks), and nitrogen dioxide.

A wealth of studies correlate nitrogen dioxide exposure with asthma. Unfortunately, studies also show the public is largely unaware of these emissions which may be affecting the health of their children (as well as themselves).

The Healthy Homes Right to Know Act is aimed at educating the public to promote informed purchasing power by placing warning labels on new gas stoves to alert the public of dangerous emissions.

The “Solar Up Now NY (‘SUNNY’) Act” (the so-called solar balcony bill) permits “plug and play” portable solar generators which allow New Yorkers to generate their own power via sunlight, save money on their electric bills, help ease electric demand, and not require a complicated solar panel set up.

Lastly, legislation was approved (The Responsible Data Center Development Act) that would place a one-year moratorium on the issuance of large data center permits by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This one is tricky for the governor. She issued an executive order establishing a one-year moratorium and ran hard on a data center moratorium message in her successful 2026 re-election. Yet the legislation covers a larger number of data center projects and has tighter controls. Can she work out an agreement on this? Or will she veto the bill on an issue that she knows has broad public support?

The governor has until the end of the year to decide what to do with these three bills – and the other 385 that will be sent to her desk for consideration. Her decisions on these could go a long way toward protecting the health of New Yorkers and in keeping a lid on the rising costs of energy in New York.