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.
All in all, since January 856 bills passed both houses and will, eventually, be sent to the governor for her approval. That amount was an uptick over last year, just over 800 identical bills were approved by both houses in 2024.
Yet, there was a large gap in the number of bills passed by each house. The state Senate, continuing the trend of recent years, approved far more bills than the state Assembly. The Senate approved 1,743 bills, while the Assembly approved just under 1,000 (995). This gap is consistent with previous sessions of the past decade. However, the gap is surprising since the Assembly has a lot more members (there are 150 members of the Assembly compared to 63 in the Senate) and that the Assembly met longer than the Senate.
Since only 856 bills passed both houses, essentially the state Assembly blocked hundreds of bills that had been approved by the Senate, which is also surprising. Both houses are dominated by Democrats so there should be no partisan differences and it is unlikely that there are ideological ones. Why did the Assembly block so many bills? It’s hard to say, but some of them were ones that stirred little controversy.
Take for example, legislation designed to plug a loophole in the state’s lobbying disclosure law. Current law requires the reporting of lobbying to influence laws, executive actions, agency decisions, and efforts to influence local governments but not for efforts to influence the governor’s appointments to agencies or the courts. Legislation to require disclosure of that lobbying was approved in the Senate, but the Assembly version never came up for a vote.
Plugging that loophole should be a legislative “no-brainer.” The key regulator in setting utility rates is the Public Service Commission. Under New York law, spending to get a rate hike approved or denied is considered “lobbying.”
However, due to the existing loophole, advocacy to influence the governor’s choices to be on the Public Service Commission is not considered lobbying. So, trying to influence utility rates is lobbying, but trying to influence who is picked to make the rate decision is not. How does that make sense? Apparently, the Assembly didn’t see the public interest in disclosing that lobby spending and the bill was blocked.
Another example is legislation that would have established an incentive program for landscaping companies and local governments to purchase electric lawn equipment instead of gas powered ones. We’ve all had the jarring experience of having a peaceful day interrupted by an obnoxiously loud gas-powered leaf blower or other lawn equipment that’s spewing fumes from its engine.
These machines are not only staggeringly loud, but they also produce a shocking amount of air pollution. That makes them more than a Saturday morning annoyance – they’re also a health hazard.
Legislation to incentivize the use of quieter, less polluting, battery powered lawn equipment had broad support by a diverse set of constituencies and interests, including over one hundred public health, environmental and community groups, lawn equipment manufacturers, and equipment retailers like Home Depot.
With support from unusual allies like this, it was expected that the bill would sail through the Assembly. But it too died on the Assembly floor without a debate.
Of course, there were other more controversial legislative casualties resulting from Assembly inaction. One was legislation to reduce the amount of plastic packaging in New York.
According to the to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), “New York’s 25 municipal solid waste landfills have a combined landfill capacity of between 16 and 25 years.” If the state’s landfills are filled to capacity in a decade or so, what should New York do? The DEC has recommended that the state adopt a “producer responsibility” approach and urged action to, among other things, reduce packaging wastes.
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act legislation would have done just that. But despite having passed the Senate, broad public support, and having more than enough votes in the Assembly, the bill never came up for a vote.
The packaging legislation was opposed by companies willing to spend big bucks to defeat it – and they did just that.
It is impossible for the public to know why the Assembly has chosen to block hundreds of Senate-approved bills. As mentioned, those bills die a quiet death, with no public debate. Obviously, the Assembly majority is comfortable with this approach, whatever the reason.
Yet, the Assembly opposition blocks solutions to serious public problems. As servants of the public, the Assembly should at least explain its inaction to voters and taxpayers who deserve some answers.