Plugged In @ Hinman Straub

March 13, 2026

What’s Inside

• One-House Budgets Released
• Legislative Session Review
• Governor Joins Fix Tier Six Rally
• Governor Announces Cybersecurity Regulations for Water Systems
• New York City Credit Rating Downgraded 
• In the News
• Coming Up 

One-House Budgets Released 

As part of the budget process, the Senate and Assembly recently released their respective one-house budget bills for the State Fiscal Year (“SFY”) 2027. These one-house budget bills are composed of each house’s budget priorities and positions with respect to the Governor’s SFY 2027 Executive Budget proposal. With the joint legislative budget conference committee process complete, the Governor and the two houses will work to resolve differences between their respective plans before the April 1 deadline for a timely Enacted Budget.

The Assembly’s one-house budget proposal projects a budget totaling $272 billion, compared to the Senate’s budget proposal of $269.8 billion. Governor Hochul’s initial Executive Budget amounted to $260 billion, up from $254 billion in the previous year.

Linked below are one-house budget items for review:

• Summary of the Assembly Recommended Changes to the Executive Budget
• New York State Senate Advances 2026 One-House Budget Resolution

Lastly, the Assembly issued several subject area press releases surrounding their one-house budget proposals, including the following:

• Assembly’s $266 Billion Proposed Budget Puts Money Back in the Pockets of Hardworking New Yorkers
• Assembly Proposed Budget Provides Critical Relief to New Yorkers Struggling with Rising Utility Rates
• Proposed Assembly Budget Makes $42.4 Billion Investment in Higher Education and Expands Tuition Assistance to Increase Accessibility and Affordability for New Yorkers
• Assembly SFY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Invests in Programs to Make Housing More Affordable, and Make Homeownership More Accessible
• Assembly SFY 2026-27 Proposed Budget Includes $39.4 Billion in School Aid
• Proposed Assembly Budget Makes Critical Investments in Transportation Infrastructure and Transit Services Across the State   

Legislative Session Review

Assembly: – Heastie (Co-Chair) – Pretlow – Peoples-Stokes – Ramos – Hunter* – Ra – Palmesano*  Senate:  – Stewart-Cousins (Co-Chair) – Krueger – Gianaris – Gounardes* – Ortt – Lanza*

Assembly: – Dinowitz (Co-Chair) – Lavine – Dilan – McDonald – Powers* – Moreno* – Reilly – Bailey* Senate: – Myrie (Co-Chair) – Mayer – Sepulveda – Scarcella-Spanton* – Palumbo – O’Mara*

Assembly: – Simon (Co-Chair) – Steck – Stern – Santabarbara – O’Pharrow* – Hooks* – Giglio – Sempolinski* Senate: – Fernandez (Co-Chair) – Brouk – Fahy – Webb – Sutton* – Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick – Ashby*

Assembly: – Glick (Co-Chair) – Rosenthal – Lupardo – Kim – Cunningham* – Jacobson* – Tague – Lemondes* Senate: – Harckham (Co-Chair) – Hinchey – Kavanagh – Parker – Serrano* – Martins – Helming*

Assembly: – Magnarelli (Co-Chair) – Braunstein – Barrett – Dais* – Torres* – Miller – Durso* Senate: – Cooney (Co-Chair) – Comrie – Martinez – Skoufis – Liu* – Mattera – Oberacker*

Assembly: – Stirpe (Co-Chair) – Woerner – Buttenschon – Otis – Wright* – Cashman* – Slater – Bendett* Senate: – Baskin (Co-Chair) – Addabbo – Sanders – Gounardes – Hinchey* – Borrello – Chan

Assembly: – Paulin (Co-Chair) – Weprin – Seawright – Reyes – Kassay* – Yeger* – Jensen – Blumencranz* Senate: – Rivera (Co-Chair) – Bailey – Cleare – Fernandez – Webb* – Gallivan – Stec*

Assembly: – Benedetto (Co-Chair) – Rozic – Vanel – Carroll – Conrad* – Burroughs* – Smith – Chludzinski*  Senate: – Mayer (Co-Chair) – Liu – Bynoe – Stavisky – Martinez* – Tedisco – Weber*

Assembly: – Solages (Co-Chair) – Williams – Pheffer Amato – Burke – Burdick* – Kay* – Manktelow – Ari Brown* Senate: – Skoufis (Co-Chair – Martinez – Jackson – Ryan – Bottcher* – Walczyk – Weik*

Assembly: – Hyndman (Co-Chair) – Colton – Walker – Fall – Schiavoni* – Romero* – Smullen – Pirozzolo* Senate: – Stavisky (Co-Chair) – May – Parker – Gonzalez – Jackson* – Griffo – Murray*

Assembly: – Hevesi (Co-Chair) – Bronson – Davila – Zinerman – Berger* – Patrick Carroll* – Novakhov – Molitor* Senate: – Persaud (Co-Chair) – Brisport – Ramos – Scarcella-Spanton – Zellner* – Rhoads – Rolison*

Governor Joins “Fix Tier Six” Rally

On Sunday, the Governor joined union teachers, nurses, firefighters and public employees statewide, for their rally calling for changes to Tier 6 of the public pension plan. Roughly 780,000 workers statewide are classified as part of that group, enacted in 2012 to reduce long-term pension costs to the state.

At the rally, the Governor said she’s in support of a more equitable plan after making previous changes to Tier 6 in 2022. The New York State and Local Retirement System is currently administered by the state comptroller, managing assets valued at more than $273 billion.

Governor Hochul said:

Governor Announces Cybersecurity Regulations for Water Systems

This week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced cybersecurity regulations and $2.5 million in grants to help communities affordably protect their drinking water and wastewater systems. This approach equips drinking water and wastewater operators with the framework and tools to bolster their cybersecurity posture against increasingly sophisticated and dangerous cyber threats while strengthening services that millions of New Yorkers rely on every day.

The new threat-informed, risk-centric, and cost-balanced minimum standards developed by DEC and DOH include:

• Mandatory cybersecurity training for certified operators
• Cybersecurity incident reporting requirements
• Risk-based tiered standards to protect critical operations and sensitive information
• Designation of a cybersecurity lead role at larger drinking water systems

To support implementation, Governor Hochul is launching the new $2.5 million Strengthening Essential Cybersecurity for Utilities and Resiliency Enhancements (SECURE) grant program, administered by EFC. Applications open today. Funding includes:

• Up to $50,000 for cybersecurity assessments
• Up to $100,000 to implement cybersecurity upgrades

More information can be found here.

New York City Credit Rating Downgraded 

According to reports, this week, Moody’s revised New York City’s credit outlook from “stable” to “negative,” warning that large projected budget gaps could lead to future downgrades if not addressed.

The city’s Aa2 rating remains the same, but Mayor Zohran Mamdani says the move is premature, arguing that expected state aid could help close the shortfall without deep cuts to services. City Comptroller Mark Levine calls the change a serious warning and says the city must curb spending growth, avoid overusing reserves, and secure more reliable state funding to strengthen its finances.

In The News

City & State NY’s weekly Winners and Losers of this week here.

NY’s top judge faces ethics complaint over ‘stupid’ sentencing comment.

NY school district’s use of ‘timeout’ boxes deemed ‘illegal’.

Your guide to the 2026 State Budget Fight.

New York has second highest tax rates in US, study says.

Mamdani administration inks $1.9B, 3-year contract to house homeless in NYC hotels.

Bloomberg to Back Protégé in Crowded N.Y.C. House Race With Super PAC.

Upstate lawmakers prepare for budget fight over municipal funding.

Hochul says new taxes could drive wealthy out of N.Y.

Hochul, state Senate and Assembly go to their corners on utility costs and climate law ahead of budget negotiations.

Child care services expanding at SUNY community colleges, Hochul says.

N.Y. Assemblymember Michaelle Solages discusses importance of expanding child care workforce.

Coming Up

The Senate will hold a public hearing on Current Patterns in White-Collar Crime and Fraud, and Possible Updates to Laws Protecting New Yorkers and Markets on March 4.