Plugged In @ Hinman Straub

March 21, 2025

What’s Inside

Legislative Session Recap
Outside Income Limit for New York Lawmakers Upheld
Court of Appeals Rules Noncitizen Voting Law Unconstitutional
Congestion Pricing End Deadline Extended
Governor Updates New Yorkers on the State’s Decrease in Gun Violence
Governor Announces Loan Repayment Program Expansion to Mental Health Practitioners Serving Children and Youth
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Legislative Session Recap

The Legislature convened Monday-Thursday this week. They will reconvene on Monday for a four-day session.

On Wednesday, the Assembly highlighted a legislative package they passed to help improve government transparency. The package of legislation seeks to do the following:

A.1410, Rosenthal – Alters the trade secret exemption under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).
A.2321, McDonald – Requires state agencies to report detailed information on FOIL requests received or pending to the Committee on Open Government on an annual basis.
A.2573, McDonald – Requires all state agencies to make public documents available in a digital format. This would expand accessibility to nonconfidential documents and provide the ability to print the documents if needed.
A.6707, Solages – Requires state agencies to publicly post information about contracts that were not reviewed by the Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC) because they were either emergency contracts or exempted from review by law.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said:

This is a critical time in our country’s history to ensure our state is standing on the forefront of government transparency and freedom of the press. By expanding access to agency records, we’re building trust within the work our government is doing to make the everyday lives of New Yorkers better.

Outside Income Limit for New York Lawmakers Upheld

A State Supreme Court Judge upheld a recently passed state law that limits the outside income of New York State lawmakers to $35,000. According to several reports and statements by state lawmakers, there’s a concern that this law will disproportionately impact members of the Republican Party.

The income limitation was initially set to go into effect on January 1, 2025. However, it’s still unclear how and when enforcement will begin. In the meantime, Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt has stated that members are exploring further action and are still waiting to learn how the ruling impacts income earned after January 1, but before this ruling.

Court of Appeals Rules Noncitizen Voting Law Unconstitutional

The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled on Thursday that New York City’s noncitizen voting law is unconstitutional, stating that “the New York constitution as it stands today draws a firm line in restricting voting to citizens.”

This law would have empowered about 800,000 noncitizens to cast a ballot and vote for mayor, city council and other local offices, but not for president, Congress, or state officials.

Following the ruling, the New York City’s Law Department said:

The highest court in New York State has spoken. We respect the court’s ruling.

Congestion Pricing End Deadline Extended

On Thursday, the Trump administration extended the deadline it initially set for New York to end its congestion pricing program. The initial deadline for the MTA to stop collecting tolls was March 21, but in a social media post on Thursday, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the agency would “provide New York with a 30-day extension as discussions continue.”

In response to Secretary Duffy, Governor Hochul’s spokesperson issued the following statement:

Traffic is down, business is up and support for this first-in-the-nation initiative continues to grow. We’ve seen Secretary Duffy’s tweet, which doesn’t change what Governor Hochul has been saying all along: the cameras are staying on.

Governor Updates New Yorkers on the State’s Decrease in Gun Violence

This week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that gun violence in communities participating in the State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative declined during the first two months of the year after reaching its lowest level on record in 2024. Shooting incidents with injury decreased 18 percent in January and February, compared to those two months in 2024, and 18 fewer individuals were harmed by gunfire.

The 18 percent decline reflects 61 shooting incidents with injury reported in January and February 2025, compared to 74 during those two months last year, and the number of shooting victims decreased by 21 percent (68 vs. 86). The 28 police departments participating in GIVE report roughly 90 percent of violent crimes involving firearms and 85 percent of violent crime reported outside New York City.

Governor Hochul said:

Reducing gun violence and implementing programs to make our streets safer is critical to ensuring that all New Yorkers feel safe and are protected from harm. The initiatives we’ve implemented to eliminate gun crimes are working, and we will continue to invest in law enforcement and community based programs until each and every New Yorker is free from gun violence.

More information can be found in the Governor’s press release here.

Governor Announces Loan Repayment Program Expansion to Mental Health Practitioners Serving Children and Youth

Governor Hochul has announced a $4 million expansion of the Community Mental Health Loan Repayment Program to include licensed professionals serving children and adolescents at programs licensed or funded by the state.

Administered by the state Office of Mental Health (OMH), in partnership with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the funding will provide at least 400 awards of up to $30,000 to help mental health professionals serving youth repay education loans and student debt, provided they work a minimum of three years at eligible mental health programs.

The Community Mental Health Loan Repayment Program provides up to $120,000 for psychiatrists and $30,000 for other mental health professionals to repay qualified education loans and student debt, provided they remain employed by licensed community mental health programs for three years. Program eligibility includes many licensed mental health professionals, including master and clinical social workers; mental health counselors; marriage and family therapists; creative arts therapists, psychoanalysts, and psychologists.

An additional $3 million is available for eligible professionals employed by OMH-licensed providers, including comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs, residential treatment facilities, assertive community treatment teams, children’s day treatment, mental health outpatient treatment and rehabilitative services and crisis stabilization centers. This funding is remaining from previous rounds of the program and will support at least 120 awards, including 60 psychiatrists and 60 psychiatric nurse practitioners or psychiatric physician assistants.

More information on eligibility requirements can be found here.