Hochul signs 44 bills, vetoes 40 — read the full list
And Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado is signaling his interest in running for governor in 2026.
Good afternoon — it’s Monday, and Chocolate Covered Anything Day.
In today’s CapCon:
Hochul released her decisions on dozens of bills Friday night, including a spending transparency bill and a school temperature cap.
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado is weighing a primary challenge against Hochul.
At the Capitol: The Electoral College is coming to town!
This Week in New York History: the Great Fire of New York, the first suffrage march to Albany and the secretary of the Smithsonian.
Capitol Count features bills that move through the Legislature, including those introduced, passed and considered by the governor. Senate sponsors are capitalized.
✒️ Hochul signs 44 bills, vetoes 40 in Friday sweep
It was about 11:30 p.m. on Friday when Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office released the list of bills she had decided to sign into law or veto.
Hochul ended up approving 44 of them and rejecting 40. There are 104 more bills currently on Hochul’s desk. A decision on those is due early next week.
I have links to the full list of bills she decided Friday below for paid subscribers. (If you’re a free subscriber and you’re reading this in your email, a seven-day free trial awaits you below.)
The vetoes made more news than the “chapters,” which are what bills signed into law are called. (I guess they’re also just called “laws.”)
First, let’s go over a handful of the 40 bills Hochul vetoed.
🖋️ Here are the bills Hochul vetoed
If you want to skip the highlights and just want to see the full list, I totally understand. ⬇️
Here’s a link to the full list of bills Hochul vetoed on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.
But here’s a quick recap on three of the measures on that list I think you’ll be interested in.
1. Spending transparency bill (A10281)
It’s the second year that Hochul has vetoed this bill, which would have required state agencies to post certain details about state contracts that don’t require comptroller approval.
I wrote a full story with the details on that bill, and Hochul’s veto. Read that here (it’s free for CapCon subscribers).
“I am very disappointed the governor vetoed our bill requiring more transparency and accountability for billions in emergency contracts and those that bypass routine oversight,” Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a post-rejection statement.
“Without public disclosure of how taxpayer money is being used, it raises questions about whether the public is getting the best value for its money,” he added.
The legislation had unanimous support in the Assembly and Senate.
2. The LICH bill on hospital closures (S8843A)
I told you about the one in On The Bill last Wednesday. Read that here.
It would essentially require hospitals to go through more steps — including public engagement — before they close a facility or department.
“Greater transparency in the closure process would be beneficial, but this bill does not appropriately balance that goal against the financial reality that struggling hospitals face and changes in health care service delivery,” Hochul wrote.
Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said she’ll introduce it again next year.
“These decisions should not happen behind closed doors where there is no chance of saving the hospital or unit, or even planning for the community’s future access to healthcare,” Simon said.
3. Child care work requirements (A1303)
Child care assistance is available to people who earn the minimum wage, but gig-economy workers are sometimes classified as earning less than that. This bill would allow those workers to access that assistance.
Hochul said it was too costly and should be negotiated as part of the state budget.
“With this veto, Gov. Hochul has chosen to continue to exclude parents who are small business owners, barely paying themselves … and parents working in the gig economy,” the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, which advocates for child care access, said in a statement.
🖋️ Here are the bills Hochul signed
Some of the bills Hochul approved are sort of niche and wonky, but they’re still important.
Here’s a link to the full list of bills Hochul signed on Dec. 13, 2024.
I’m about out of space for today’s CapCon because of all the great content I have for you below, so we’ll keep this list shorter.
Here’s a quick recap of two bills Hochul signed Friday:
1. Maximum classroom temperature (S3397A)
If your local school district doesn’t have air conditioning or another way to keep rooms cool on hot days, this one’s for you.
It would require schools to make efforts to cool rooms that reach 82 degrees and would prohibit the use of rooms that reach a torrid zone of 88 degrees. Hochul said technical changes will be made to the new law in the new year.
“Our climate is changing and the number of warmer days during the school year is increasing,” Hochul wrote.
2. More e-filing in New York’s courts (S7524)
I didn’t know this bill even existed — but apparently it’s a big deal in the legal community.
It essentially offers the option to expand e-filing in New York’s courts. That’s when cases appear electronically and attorneys can file documents on the web, rather than in person.
The bill gives the chief administrative judge the power to institute e-filing in all courts, on a voluntary or mandatory basis. The text of the lengthy bill lays it out.
“This law allows attorneys to better serve their clients by reducing the amount of needless paperwork. It also helps underserved residents of rural communities who previously had to rely on attorneys to drive an hour to merely file a document,” New York State Bar Association President Domenick Napoletano said in a statement.
There’s a lot to watch in politics. This section gives you a quick look at news on elections that might interest you.
🏃 Delgado is signaling a potential primary against Hochul
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado may be seeking to rise above that rank in two short years.
About three weeks ago, I wrote about how it was clear Delgado was planting seeds for something: he’s dropped six figures this year on campaign consultants and went on a media blitz after last month’s elections to talk about his party’s future.
Another tea leaf has now appeared: an interview with the New York Times for a story published Sunday with the headline “Hochul May Face a Challenger She Knows Well: Her Lieutenant Governor.”
It’s not just the interview itself that made me think he’s seriously considering a primary challenge to Hochul — it’s the fact that he posted the article on X after! Not very subtle!
Take it from me: People in politics don’t post news articles on social media unless they want the information found there to spread wider.
Delgado won’t have to file an update to his state-level campaign account until early next year. That might show us a bit more about what he’s thinking.
I’ve reached out to chat with him but don’t have anything on the books just yet.
Hochul is already facing a potential primary from Rep. Ritchie Torres, who’s hammered her in the news and social media posts in the past few weeks.
“Hard to imagine a greater vote of no confidence in a governor than to have your own lieutenant governor threatening a primary challenge against you,” Torres posted on social media Monday.
“Gov. Hochul, whose administration is at war with itself, is in grave danger of becoming the first Democratic incumbent to lose to a Republican in more than three decades,” he added. “A danger we ignore at our own peril.”
At the Capitol gives you information about scheduled committee meetings, hearings and other government goings-on at the Capitol and in the Legislature.
🕥 At the Capitol: Electoral College at the Capitol
After each election for president, electors convene at the state Capitol in Albany to cast their votes for president and vice president. Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz won New York, so that’s who electors will choose.
That’s happening Tuesday (tomorrow). If you don’t work here or aren’t an elector, you won’t be allowed in the building until after 3 p.m.
The electors are 28 of the state’s most recognizable and powerful Democrats. But unlike a convention, it’s not a very exciting event: They arrive, they vote and they leave.
The four state-level statewide elected officials are electors, as are the legislative leaders. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Assemblywoman Latrice Walker are also electors.
Bill and Hillary Clinton were electors four years ago and I remember the former president being here for the 2016 Electoral College. They won’t be here this year.
A few of the other electors you’ll recognize: Jay Jacobs, Eric Adams, Hazel Dukes, Vanessa Gibson, Mario Cilento, George Gresham, Gary LaBarbera, Luis Miranda, Christine Quinn, Carolyn Maloney and Kathy Sheehan.
What: The Electoral College in New York
When: Tuesday, Dec. 17, at noon
Where: The state Senate chamber
Who: The 28 electors from New York
At the start of each week, we’ll plan to tell you about part of New York’s history from years past. This research is from New York State Historian Devin Lander, assistant Lauren Lyons and the New York State Museum, so you know it’s legit.
📜 This Week in New York History: the Great Fire, the first suffrage march to Albany and the Smithsonian
🔥 Dec. 16-17, 1835: Imagine not having enough water to douse the flames of a fire quickly spreading in lower Manhattan. That’s what fire crews had to deal with as the Great Fire of New York destroyed the New York Stock Exchange and most of the buildings on the southeast tip of Manhattan.
The fire started in a warehouse on Merchant Street, which we know today as Beaver Street. Strong winds spread the flames quickly. Water reserves were low because they had been exhausted on a another fire just days before. To make things worse, both the Hudson and East River were frozen, so crews couldn’t easily use river water to put out the fire.
The only way to stop the fire from swallowing the city whole was to demolish the buildings in its path. That slowed its progress, but there wasn’t enough gunpowder available to finish the demolitions. By the time the fire was done, 17 city blocks with up to 750 buildings were destroyed.
☑️ Dec. 16, 1912: The first suffrage “hike” from New York City to Albany began on this day. A group of 200 women walked from Manhattan to Albany to deliver a suffrage petition to the governor. The march was led by “General” Rosalie Gardiner Jones, who modeled the movement after similar marches in the United Kingdom, where suffragettes marched from Scotland to London.
The New York group walked 170 miles over 13 days because of several detours for presentations and meetings with local mayors. They arrived in Albany on Dec. 28, 1912.
🧠 Dec. 17, 1797: Joseph Henry was the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institute. He was born on this day to a Scottish immigrant family in Albany. He attended the Albany Academy on a scholarship, tutoring students to raise money for himself and his family. He was hired as an engineer for a state survey for a road connecting the Hudson River and Lake Erie after school.
Henry was then hired as a professor of math and natural philosophy at the Albany Academy, where he researched magnetism and electromagnetism. His research was the foundation for the development of motors and the telegraph. After a stint at Princeton, he became secretary of the Smithsonian Institute in 1846. He remained in the role until his death 30 years later.
Lawmakers still introduce bills outside the legislative session but not as frequently. This section may not appear in CapCon on days where there are no new bills of note.
Debt Collection Regulation:: Third-party debt collectors are required to be licensed in 30 states, but New York is not one of them. This would create a licensing system managed by the state Department of Financial Services, which would also be allowed to investigate any company accused of malfeasance and revoke their license. (S666C Kavanagh)
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🫕 National Chocolate Covered Anything Day: I don’t know about anything but if you like chocolate, you can pair it with a lot of things. I used to be a big chocolate and peanut butter fan before I discovered I couldn’t really eat chocolate because I have acid reflux. But I would like to live vicariously through you, so please eat chocolate.