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In today’s CapCon:
Democrats plan to give first passage to a constitutional amendment to move most remaining local elections to even-numbered years.
And while they’re gaveling out this week until January, lawmakers are preparing to negotiate several of the bills they pass with Hochul throughout the year.
Despite last-minute opposition, bills to pause and regulate data centers and prohibit surveillance pricing are expected to pass both chambers this week.
Several bills related to artificial intelligence, including how it’s used by businesses, are also being teed up by lawmakers to pass both chambers.
The state Department of Health has released proposed regulations for physicians around the Medical Aid in Dying Act. Here’s what’s in them.
Names in today’s CapCon: Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Kathy Hochul, Letitia James, Michael Gianaris, Alex Bores, Kristin Gonzalez, Amy Paulin, Jeremy Cooney, Harry Bronson, Michelle Hinchey
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins Thursday (Will Waldron/Times Union)
🖋️ Lawmakers pass end-of-session flurry of bills with chapter amendments in mind
While lawmakers will leave the state Capitol for the year this week, the legislative session, in a sense, will continue through the end of the year.
Democrats in the state Legislature have spent the last seven days approving hundreds of bills, some of which they might have taken more time to negotiate if discussions around the state budget hadn’t dominated this year’s legislative session until last week.
There have been times in the past when lawmakers have been reluctant to spend time approving bills that are likely to be vetoed by the governor as written.
But it’s a new era in Albany, in which Gov. Kathy Hochul has become accustomed to negotiating what are called chapter amendments on several bills approved each year by lawmakers.
A chapter amendment is when the governor agrees to sign a bill in exchange for a promise from lawmakers to approve a different version at their next-earliest opportunity. It’s a way for Hochul to seek changes to a bill instead of vetoing it.
Take the Medical Aid in Dying Act, for example, the bill lawmakers approved last year that allows physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients. (More on that law further down in today’s newsletter)
Hochul didn’t support the version approved by Democrats so she negotiated changes to it that were then passed this year when lawmakers returned to Albany.
That practice has been common since Hochul took office. Lawmakers have become accustomed to negotiating amendments to their bills in the off-session part of the year instead of crossing their fingers hoping for a signature.
“It’s not that they oppose the version that they pass and hope that Hochul fixes it,” said state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. I asked her Thursday if they approved bills knowing that Hochul may request amendments.
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