What else is on the docket for this year's legislative session?
Roe v. Wade: Following the election of Donald Trump as president, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is renewing a push to codify Roe v. Wadeinto state law. The measure has been introduced for several years now, but ultimately failed to gain support in the Republican-controlled state Senate. Cuomo has promised to protect abortion rights in the state as the rest of the country faces changes from Trump’s anti-abortion policies.
Ethics reform: Cuomo has again proposed several ethics reforms after facing criticism for not doing more following the arrests and convictions of two former legislative leaders on corruption charges last year – and the indictment of his own former associate, Joe Percoco, for his role an alleged bribery scheme. This year, the state Legislature has already passed a constitutional amendment to strip pensions from convicted legislators. Additionally, Cuomo will push to close the “LLC loophole,” impose term limits, limit outside income for lawmakers, create a full-time Legislature and institute public financing of campaigns, among other proposals.
Criminal justice reform: Cuomo has again thrown his support behind the “Raise the Age” movement, which seeks to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years of age. Currently, New York is one of only two states that process 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. He also proposed requiring the recording of interrogations for serious offenses and improving witness identification procedures.
Property taxes: After enacting the property tax cap and the property tax freeze credit, Cuomo is pushing to reduce property taxes further by requiring county officials to develop localized plans to find property tax savings and putting the plan to a vote by taxpayers. State Senate Republicans, meanwhile, want to make the property tax cap permanent.
Ride hailing: Uber officially launched in New York City in 2011, and despite fights with New York City politicians and the yellow cab industry, it has flourished. However, due to the state’s insurance laws, ride-hailing services, such as Uber and Lyft, cannot operate outside the city. Upstate lawmakers and advocates have previously tried to broker an agreement on the insurance limits needed, but have failed. Cuomo is now pushing for ride hailing to expand upstate.