It is an end-of-year State Capitol tradition, a lawmaker’s parallel to the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center: a holiday checklist of scores of bills that await Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature or veto before the new year.
The bills, as they typically do, vary in consequence and scope.
Ms. Hochul, for example, signed a bill last week requiring health insurers to cover the costs of EpiPens for people with allergies. She vetoed a bill prohibiting the removal of horseshoe crabs from their natural habitats. And she left hanging a bill that would push state economic development officials to promote the game of stickball.
The stickball bill is among roughly 105 pieces of legislation awaiting her consideration. In most cases, any bill she does not act on before Jan. 1 will be effectively vetoed.
The impending deadline has prompted a last-minute lobbying frenzy as advocacy groups, labor affiliates and business interests argue for or against bills they care about. Ms. Hochul’s spokeswoman declined to give any indication of how the governor regards the bills awaiting her decision.
Here’s where things stand on some of the outstanding pieces of legislation.
Restricting how state workers use A.I. tools
Ms. Hochul has focused on the spreading use of artificial intelligence. She backed legislation that devotes hundreds of millions of dollars to A.I. research, pushed for new laws that force campaigns to disclose how A.I. is used by political candidates, and instituted guidelines for its use by the state.
Yet she has not hinted at her stance on a bill strongly backed by labor unions that would limit how artificial intelligence could be used to replace employed state workers, would require agencies to disclose when they are using A.I. programs and would further regulate how such tools are used.
The bill was introduced by Senator Kristen Gonzalez, a democratic socialist, and Assemblyman Steven Otis, a Democrat. Mr. Otis said he expected the governor to tweak the law and send it back to the Legislature for reconsideration. Failing that, he said, the lawmakers will try again early next session.
Ms. Gonzalez said she had seen few comparable bills nationwide — particularly with provisions related to preventing job losses.
“We really thought that this bill would be an easy sign,” Ms. Gonzalez said. “It has proved to be a difficult process, because we have been getting pushback from the governor’s office. There has been a lot of conversation about what it means for our state government to have clear processes and standards when they are introducing new automated decision-making systems to their current processes.”
Artificial intelligence tools are already being used by government workers to make determinations on applications for public housing, public assistance and unemployment insurance, said Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO.
“The priority for the labor movement is to protect the jobs and the rights and privacy of workers,” Mr. Cilento said. “That is where this legislation gets us. It begins that process.”
Large technology companies have been lobbying against the bill. Some government officials have expressed concern that the bill could slow down state agencies’ ability to test and use new technologies. These issues are likely to arise again next year, when several legislators are expected to introduce more sweeping regulations of artificial intelligence that go beyond its use in state government.
Julie Samuels, the president of Tech:NYC, an industry association that represents companies such as Google, Microsoft and Meta, said Ms. Hochul’s administration appeared mindful of the balance necessary between incorporating human oversight of artificial intelligence and supporting innovation.
“My concern,” Ms. Samuels said of the bill, “is that it takes us too far away from allowing government to experiment and create opportunities to provide better services.”
Expanding wrongful-death lawsuit provisions
Will the third time be the charm? A bill that would allow families involved in wrongful-death lawsuits to sue for emotional damages has been vetoed twice by Ms. Hochul, who argued that it could end up costing too much and could create “unintended consequences.”
She has said, though, that she would like to see the state’s wrongful-death statute, which was first written in 1847, updated. A less far-reaching version of the bill was passed by the Legislature this year, but it, too, drew a barrage of opposition.
“Allowing for unlimited wrongful-death damages would make it more difficult to recruit and retain providers, make it harder for New Yorkers to access care and exacerbate existing health inequities, all while increasing costs,” Bea Grause, the president of the Healthcare Association of New York State, said in a statement.
“The latest version of the bill fails to address the governor’s previously stated concerns,” she added.
The bill’s supporters, including the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, suggest that Ms. Hochul is being influenced by a multimillion-dollar lobbying campaign. They said they believe the legislation will not raise insurance premiums, and noted that this year’s version of the bill shortened the statute of limitations and limited which members of a family could sue.
It is not clear if these changes have won over Ms. Hochul. Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who sponsored the bill, said neither Ms. Hochul nor her aides had come forward with alternative proposals or signaled her view of the bill’s current language.
“We are way out of line with the rest of that nation, and part of it is because of the power of various lobbying groups that has have blocked any consideration,” he said. “This bill is one of the few that remains on the governor’s desk that has bipartisan support.”
Allowing felons to serve on juries
Under current state law, being convicted of a felony crime means losing the right to serve on a jury in New York State. A new law, if signed by Ms. Hochul, would restore that right for people with felony convictions who have completed “all sentencing requirements related to such conviction, including any required term of imprisonment, probation or community supervision.”
Proponents of the legislation argue that this move would diversify and grow the size of jury pools. Almost two dozen states and the District of Columbia either allow citizens with felony convictions to sit on juries or restore their ability to serve after a prescribed time following their release. Public defender organizations, the New York Civil Liberties Union and a state commission of judges and court officers were some of the groups to back the bill.
“A felony conviction is no longer a lifetime sentence when it comes to the rights of citizenship,” Domenick Napoletano, president of the New York State Bar Association, which supports the bill, said over the summer after it passed. “We must believe in the power of reform and redemption for all of our citizens who have paid their debt to society.”
Lakes may be up for adoption
A common method for conservation or beautification of public spaces in New York is evident on signs across the state: volunteers “adopting” parks, shorelines and roadways. With a few hours spent cleaning up the spaces, individuals or groups can memorialize their support for a designated location.
Now that privilege could be extended to lakes, because of a bill introduced by Assemblyman Al Stirpe and State Senator Rachel May. The proposed legislation, which had one opponent in the State Senate and unanimous approval in the Assembly, was sent to Ms. Hochul’s desk last week.
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