Hochul expected to veto final undecided bill on judicial districts

And overdose deaths have declined in New York for a second year.

Good afternoon — It’s Monday and Tick Tock Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• New York recorded a significant decline in overdose deaths in the state’s most recent data, reaching pre-pandemic levels.

• Environmental advocates want Gov. Kathy Hochul to include an update to the state’s laws on redeemable cans and bottles in her executive budget.

• Upstate county chairs have been told that Hochul intends to veto a bill that would add and reshuffle judicial districts.

• A new bill would set rules around state contracts for gun purchases. Another would create a new constitutional right to privacy.

• This Week in New York History: The first Times Square New Year’s Eve and the first immigrant at Ellis Island.

Names in today’s CapCon: Chinazo Cunningham, Kathy Hochul, Mitchell Ford, John McDonald, Zellnor Myrie, MaryJane Shimsky

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Drug test strips (Will Waldron/Times Union)

📉 Overdose deaths declined again this year in New York

The number of deaths linked to an overdose in New York has now reached pre-pandemic levels — a huge reversal after an uptick in recent years.

The state reported 4,220 overdose deaths for the 2025 reporting period, according to the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports. That’s a 31% decline compared to last year.

“That’s over 1,800 lives saved and thousands of families spared the loss of a loved one,” said Chinazo Cunningham, the commissioner of the agency, in a video Monday.

The last time the number of overdose deaths was that low was in 2019, when the state recorded 3,753 deaths. The number had steadily increased each year until last year, when the state saw a decrease.

The number of overdoses declined in the most recent data for every type of drug, according to the agency. The state recorded a decline in overdose deaths of:

• 42% for fentanyl

• 39% for opioids

• 37% for natural and semisynthetic opioids

• 34% for heroin and

• 29% for cocaine

Overdose deaths from fentanyl and opioids had increased over the past decade more than other drugs.

The decline in overdose deaths directly correlates with when settlement funds from litigation brought against opioid companies became available to the state, according to the latest report from the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board.

Because of differently defined reporting periods, their data shows a peak in the number of overdoses in 2022 instead of 2023.

New York has made $454 million of that funding available with hundreds of millions more expected in the years to come.

(Will Waldron/Times Union)

🍾 Environmental advocates ask Hochul for ‘Bottle Bill’ in executive budget

A coalition of environmental groups want Hochul to consider granting their longtime wish of updating the state’s laws on redeemable cans and bottles.