The (NY) HEAT is on at the Capitol — but with a backup plan

And A.I. bills are gaining steam as lawmakers choose which will pass over the next week.

Good afternoon — it’s Tuesday and Herbs and Spices Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• A new version of the NY HEAT Act has been introduced but its sponsors have a backup plan if that fails to gain support as well.

• Here’s what’s moving as session ends, including the Grieving Families Act, a bill to regulate lawsuit lending and the GRIFT Act.

• Artificial intelligence bills are expected to move in the final days of session. Here’s some of what’s on the table.

• The Senate will hear from more of Hochul’s nominees at the Capitol Wednesday.

Names in today’s CapCon: Liz Krueger, Jo Anne Simon, Kathy Hochul, Leroy Comrie, Micah Lasher, Alex Bores, Andrew Gounardes, Kristen Gonzalez, Danny O’Donnell, Gabriella Romero

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(Lori Van Buren/Times Union)

⚖️ An important end-of-session deadline has now passed for the Senate

Democrats in the state Senate are scheduled to be in Albany through Thursday, just two days from now.

That means lawmakers in the chamber were met with a very important deadline Monday. If you’re still wondering if a bill you’re watching will pass the upper chamber, take note.

When a bill is introduced in the Legislature, it can’t be passed by the Legislature immediately. Lawmakers must instead wait three days before the bill can get a floor vote unless the governor waives that requirement with a “message of necessity.”

That means Monday was the last day a bill could be introduced in time for it to age the required three days and hit the floor Thursday for a vote.

We saw 132 bills introduced or amended in the Senate Monday. That doesn’t mean each one will pass but it gives us an idea of what may be on and off the table. We even had a few surprises pop up in that batch. (Here’s the full list)

So if you were waiting for a bill to be introduced in the Senate, you can now stop waiting unless the Senate decides to extend its stay through Friday. But that’s not expected as of now.

It’s different in the Assembly, where lawmakers plan to extend this year’s session through early next week.

Some of the bills we’re watching as session winds down — the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and an increase to the short-term disability benefit — have already passed in the Senate.

That means last night’s deadline doesn’t matter for those measures, since the Assembly’s deadline will come later this week.

(Lori Van Buren/Times Union)

🔥 There’s a new NY HEAT Act. But its sponsors also have a backup plan

One of the bills introduced in the Senate last night is, as Sen. Liz Krueger told me Tuesday morning, the “new NY HEAT Act.”

It’s a compromise on the NY HEAT Act, a top priority bill for environmental advocates that Krueger sponsors. It’s been approved before by the Senate but has faced opposition in the Assembly.