The 2024 State Legislative Session In Review
Written by on January 4, 2025
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The 2024 New York state legislative session was a time of transition.
In March 2024, New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation began doing business under its new name, New York Families Foundation. NYFF’s affiliated lobbying organization, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, also began doing business under its new name, New York Families Action.
On March 12, 2024, for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, NYFF and NYFA held a Legislative Day event in Albany. Attendees were treated to a dynamic event that included cutting-edge policy analysis, quality Biblical teaching, wisdom about how best to exert a godly influence on school boards, an informative panel discussion featuring two state senators, and a demonstration in the halls of the New York State Capitol.
On the policy front, the 2024 session included more positive outcomes than NYFF had seen in recent years. While there were setbacks as well, the positive outcomes were a reminder that Christians can make a difference in our government.
There are multiple reasons that the state passed fewer bad bills in 2024 than it has typically passed in recent years. First, the state’s $237 billion 2024-2025 budget was not signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul until April 22, 2024—more than three weeks after the April 1 budget deadline. The foot-dragging over the budget gave the Legislature less time to get into post-budget mischief before the legislative session ended on June 8. Second, Gov. Hochul threw the New York State Capitol into turmoil on June 5 by announcing that congestion pricing tolls for lower Manhattan—which had been scheduled to go into effect on June 30—would be delayed indefinitely. The potential implications of the Governor’s decision for the budget of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) created a distraction for legislators in the very last week of the session. As The New York Times reported on June 8, “the fallout over congestion pricing became the elephant in the room that everyone talked about, leaving little oxygen for other weighty initiatives that awaited in the traditional 11th-hour rush to pass legislation before the end of session.” Third, the fact that 2024 was an election year helped our cause, as lawmakers were eager to conclude the session on time and go back to their respective districts to work on their re-election campaigns.
NYFF’s work covers four different broad areas of public policy: Protecting human life, promoting strong families, preserving religious liberty, and proclaiming justice and mercy. This article will summarize the events of the 2024 legislative session as they relate to each of these policy areas. Readers will find a summary of legislative action as it pertains to each of these areas of public policy in the hyperlinked articles below.
Other Notable Legislation
Noteworthy laws passed in 2024 on which NYFF did not take a position include the following:
- The $237 billion New York state budget for 2025, which contained major provisions designed to rectify New York City’s housing shortage. Those provisions included new tax breaks for developers, a 90% tax break for some landlords who convert office space into residential units, and a provision that doubles the amount that landlords may recoup from future tenants for costs incurred in renovating vacant apartments.
A good cause eviction law was included in the budget as well, although the law contains various carve-outs and only applies to municipalities outside New York City if those municipalities “opt in” to its provisions.
The state budget also extended mayoral control of New York City’s public schools for two years, expanded hate crimes laws, empowered authorities to padlock illegal cannabis sellers’ places of business, provided for paid prenatal leave, and banned insulin cost sharing for New Yorkers on state-regulated health insurance plans.
- Outside of the budget, noteworthy new laws include the Climate Change Superfund Act, which requires companies that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases to contribute to a state fund for infrastructure projects; a law quadrupling the number of red light cameras in New York City; a gun control package, including an anti-pistol converter law; a law providing insurance coverage for epipens; Melanie’s Law, which expanded the availability of orders of protection in criminal court and family court; and a law creating a short-term rental registry.
The Equal Rights Amendment
While it was not acted upon during the 2024 legislative session, New York’s Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a major issue in New York politics in 2024. Also known as Proposal One, the ERA added new protected characteristics to the New York State Constitution. Those characteristics include ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability, along with “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” The ERA was approved by both houses of the State Legislature in 2022 and again in 2023. After a series of court challenges, it went before the voters in 2024. On Election Day, the ERA was approved by a 57%-34% margin. This damaging amendment could endanger single-sex schools, faith-based hospitals, other faith-based charities, and parental rights. Also, its vague, unclear language will likely lead to a series of lawsuits, empowering New York’s left-wing Court of Appeals to decide how its terms should be defined and what should happen when its protected characteristics conflict with one another.
Conclusion
NYFF is thankful for the positive developments that occurred at the New York State Capitol in 2024. We hope that the Lord will use the information provided in this article to inspire more and more believers to become active, Christlike participants in the legislative process.
The post The 2024 State Legislative Session In Review appeared first on New York Families Foundation.
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