Plugged In @ Hinman Straub

March 20, 2026

What’s Inside

  • Legislative Session Review
  • Governor Proposes Amendments to Climate Law
  • Governor Calls for Restoration of 9/11 Health Program Staff 
  • Governor Announces Launch of Commission to Guide Response to Impacts of AI on Workers
  • Governor Announces New Funding Opportunity for Abortion Health Care Services
  • Judge Permanently Tosses Bid to Redraw 11th Congressional District 
  • In the News

Legislative Session Review

The Legislature convened Monday-Thursday this week and focused on general budget conference committee and subcommittee meetings from Monday to Wednesday. They will reconvene on Monday for a four-day session.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joined Susan Arbetter on Capital Tonight to discuss preliminary budget negotiations and the Senate’s priorities. The interview can be watched here.

Governor Proposes Amendments to Climate Law

After weeks of rumors and speculation, Governor Kathy Hochul has issued an exclusive op-ed in the Empire Report, announcing that she will be proposing amendments to New York’s Climate Law, specifically as it relates to the 2019-established Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and its required emissions reduction deadlines.

In her op-ed, the Governor cites federal partnership negligence, the war in Iran, and the financial implications for New Yorkers as reasons the state will not meet its emissions targets and therefore needs to be re-evaluated.

Without changes to the law, the Governor warned that meeting the CLCPA’s 2030 targets could cost more than $4,000 a year for upstate New Yorkers and $2,300 more for downstate New Yorkers, specifically those in New York City who use oil and natural gas in their homes.

While language outlining details has not been put forth to the public, the Governor assured that her proposed amendments to the state’s Climate Law will be part of budget negotiations between her and both legislative leaders. According to her op-ed, the Governor will propose to:

  • Amend the law to require regulations to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions to be issued at the end of 2030;
  • Change what emission limits the regulations are tied to – including a new 2040 target as well as the existing 2050 statewide emission limits; and
  • Change the statewide accounting methodology used to count emissions to align with the international standards used by the global community and nearly every other U.S. state.

Lastly, the Governor underscored that nothing else in the CLCPA is changing regarding the existing statewide emission limit targets, and that the new proposed regulations would still require the state to make timely progress, ensuring long-term policy stability.

The full op-ed can be read here.

Governor Calls for Restoration of 9/11 Health Program Staff

Governor Hochul has called on the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the federal Department of Homeland Security to undo efforts to gut essential services provided through the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program by reassigning personnel to federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for which funding has reached record levels.

The Governor’s office stated that this ongoing reduction in the WTC Health Program’s workforce and operational capacity directly affects the health, safety, and long-term welfare of the first responders and others who answered the call during and after the September 11 attacks, including members of the New York State Police, the New York Police Department, the New York Fire Department and the Port Authority Police Department.

The WTC Health Program was created to ensure that first responders receive timely medical monitoring, rapid certification of 9/11-related illnesses, specialized treatment, and family support and survivor benefits. In the last year, the WTC Health Program has seen a more than 25 percent reduction of staff, leaving fewer than 85 employees to oversee the roughly 140,000 survivors enrolled in the program. 

Governor Hochul said:

The World Trade Center Health Program is a lifeline for the survivors and first responders who answered the call almost 25 years ago and afterward without hesitation — and they deserve the same support from their government today. Reducing staff for an essential health program that has already faced drastic cuts in order to support an out-of-control enforcement agency with a history of failing to protect Americans is reprehensible. Our first responders and their families deserve better.

Governor Announces Launch of Commission to Guide Response to Impacts of AI on Workers

The Governor launched the FutureWorks Commission to advise on policy and private sector interventions which protect the economic security of workers while harnessing the economic benefits of AI. This blue-ribbon Commission will be composed of experts, workers’ advocates, and business leaders, and will be charged with advising Governor Hochul on how to navigate the AI transition.

Governor Hochul said:

During a time of rapid technological evolution, it is crucial that New York embraces the best AI has to offer in terms of efficiency and innovation, but also we as a state have to reckon with the ways it’s poised to disrupt some of the foundations of our society. My ambition for New York is to lead the nation in AI innovation with a workforce that’s ready to use AI to their advantage — not be victims of it.

Governor Announces New Funding Opportunity for Abortion Health Care Services

The Governor announced $20 million in state grants available to eligible providers to fund medication abortion health care services under the New York State Supplemental Abortion Provider Support Fund. The Department of Health has issued letters to 22 potential awardees notifying them of their eligibility for funding.

The Supplemental Abortion Provider Support Fund provides financial support to providers of medication abortion to ensure they can provide equitable access to timely and quality abortion services.

The program funding supports the following:

  • Recruitment, hiring, training and retention of clinical and medical staff
  • Costs associated with expanding the number of hours, days and alternate times for currently employed clinical staff to provide increased access to care
  • Care management and navigation services
  • Funding uncompensated health care services associated with abortion care
  • Outreach and marketing costs and other administrative or operational needs that increase access to abortion care

Judge Permanently Tosses Bid to Redraw 11th Congressional District

On Thursday, the New York State Supreme Court permanently dismissed the lawsuit seeking to redraw Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ 11th congressional district. The court filing indicated that the decision was “agreed between the parties” in the suit. This leaves in place the current map that had already been protected for 2026 by a U.S. Supreme Court order pausing any court-ordered redraw.

In The News

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

Hochul wants new state commission to study AI effect on N.Y. economy.

Gillibrand bill would give tariff refund money as tax rebate to families.

War in Middle East increases already record-high costs for New York farmers.

Rep. Langworthy introduces legislation to pay TSA workers amid shutdown.

Exploring possible solutions as surging utility costs hit school budgets.

State Republican Party chair backs Robert Smullen in NY-21 race.

Hakeem Jeffries on leadership and legislative battles.

Blakeman’s matching funds in question as Democrats challenge eligibility.

When New York’s state budget is really due.

N.Y. advocates push for new laws to enhance government transparency.

Uber vs. trial lawyers: How NY Gov. Hochul’s insurance plan set off a lobbying arms race.