Plugged In @ Hinman Straub

January 9, 2026

What’s Inside

  • Legislative Session Review
  • 2026 State of the State
  • Governor Releases State of the State Proposals Ahead of Planned Address
  • Assemblymember Lupardo Not Seeking Re-Election
  • Assemblymember Sayegh Not Seeking Re-Election
  • In the News
  • Coming Up

Legislative Session Review

The 2026 legislative session kicked off on Wednesday with both the Assembly and Senate convening for roughly an hour each. Both legislative leaders provided opening remarks before their members. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s opening remarks can be found here. 

Subsequently, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins joined Capital Tonight with Susan Arbetter on Wednesday night to discuss her conference’s priorities during this year’s legislative session, including affordability, criminal justice reform, and lowering utility costs for ratepayers. The full interview can be watched here.

The Assembly held a public hearing this week to receive an update on New York’s ConnectALL Initiative. The hearing was originally scheduled for November of last year, but was postponed and held on Thursday.  As part of the State FY 2022-23 Enacted Budget, $300 million was allocated to establish the ConnectALL initiative, with the goal of expanding broadband internet services to all corners of New York State. As a result, the ConnectALL Office was created within the Urban Development Corporation to oversee the utilization of public funds for this purpose.

The 2026 legislative session will include 61 legislative session days, down one day from last year, which had 62 session days. Please note that the 2026 Legislative Session is scheduled to conclude earlier in June to accommodate the numerous primary elections taking place at the end of the month, including those for Governor, State Comptroller, Attorney General, State Senate, State Assembly, and Congress.

The Legislature will convene next week on Monday and Tuesday. 

2026 State of the State

As a reminder, Governor Kathy Hochul will present her 2026 State of the State Address on Tuesday, January 13 at 1:00 p.m. in the Hart Theater at The Egg in Albany. Over the last week, Governor Hochul has teased several proposals that will be included in her State of the State Address, which will be a part of her priorities this budget and legislative session. 

Governor Releases State of the State Proposals Ahead of Planned Address

As in past years, the Governor is trickling out proposals from her upcoming State of the State address, scheduled for Tuesday. Highlights include the following proposals, with likely more to follow ahead of her planned address:

Investments in Child Care

The Governor, alongside newly seated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, announced a forthcoming investment in child care for children under five years of age across New York State. The Governor will partner with Mayor Zohran Mamdani to deliver free child care for two-year-olds in New York City, in addition to strengthening the existing 3K program to achieve universal care and ultimately, serve all families across the city.

Governor Hochul’s State of the State investments will commit to delivering affordable childcare for nearly 100,000 more kids. Through this $1.7 billion increased investment, the total FY27 investment will be $4.5 billion for childcare and prekindergarten services statewide.

As part of Governor Hochul’s 2026 State of the State, this proposal will:

  • Make Pre-K truly universal statewide,
  • Partner with New York City to launch the new Mayor’s signature 2-Care program and finally realize the promise of universal 3K access in New York City,
  •  Support other counties in building out new child care pilots that offer high-quality affordable care to families regardless of income, and
  • Expand child care subsidies to tens of thousands of additional families.

Alongside these commitments, the Governor will launch an Office of Child Care and Early Education to steer the implementation of universal child care for New York families.

Crack Down on 3D-Printed Guns and Other Illegal Firearms

As part of her 2026 State of the State agenda, the Governor unveiled proposals to strengthen New York’s gun laws by cracking down on 3D-printed and illegal firearms. The new legislation would establish criminal penalties for the manufacture of 3D-printed firearms and order minimum safety standards to be established for 3D printer manufacturers to block the production of firearms and firearm components. The proposed legislation would also require gun manufacturers to design their pistols so they cannot be quickly and easily modified into illegal machine guns, and require police departments and sheriffs’ offices to report recoveries of all 3D printed guns to the state.

Proposals to Protect Kids Online, Restrict AI Chatbots and Combat the Youth Mental Health Crisis

The Governor unveiled her first State of the State proposals, which will continue to build on her progress to keep New York’s kids safe online and combat the youth mental health crisis statewide. The new legislation will help protect children from online predators, scammers and harmful AI chatbots integrated on online platforms. Additionally, the Governor is proposing a first-of-its-kind, statewide expansion of Teen Mental Health First Aid training, designed to give young people the tools to identify, understand, and effectively respond to signs of mental health and substance abuse challenges among their friends and peers.

The Governor’s proposed legislative package to keep kids safe from emerging threats on social media and online gaming platforms will include:

  • Expanding Age Verification: Expanding requirements for platforms to conduct age verification, including online game platforms.
  • Privacy by Default: Kids will be set to the highest privacy settings on covered platforms by default, meaning non-connections cannot message kids, view their profile, or tag them in content. Location settings will be turned off by default, and children under 13 must receive parental approval for new connections.
  • Disabling AI Chatbot Features: Disabling certain AI chatbot features on social media platforms for kids.
  • Parental Controls: Parents must be able to set limits on children’s financial transactions.

This package draws on existing legislation sponsored by State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Nily Rozic.

Assemblymember Donna Lupardo Not Seeking Re-Election

In the midst of the first days of the legislative session this week, longtime Assemblymember Donna Lupardo announced that she will not be seeking re-election in November. The Assemblymember was first elected in 2004, serving in the Assembly for 22 years. She currently represents the 123rd Assembly District, which includes the City of Binghamton and the Towns of Union and Vestal.

In a statement, Assemblymember Lupardo assured that, once out of the Assembly, she will remain active in the community, focusing on the many issues and causes that she has worked to advance.

Following Assemblymember Lupardo’s announcement, Assembly Speaker Heastie issued the following statement:

Assemblymember Donna Lupardo, over her tenure in the Assembly, has been a force for good for the Southern Tier, for New York’s farmers and for families across the state.

In her more than two decades here in the People’s House, Donna has been a dedicated voice for her constituents and a compassionate leader, passing legislation to protect students from lead in schools, improving safety for highway construction workers, and leading both the Aging Committee and the Children and Families Committee. Since 2019 she has chaired the Agriculture Committee, where she helped to support small farms and strengthen the food supply chain and grow New York’s craft beverage industry.

I have always been able to call Donna a great colleague and a great friend. We will miss her here in the People’s House, but I know she will continue to uplift her community and make Broome County and the Southern Tier a better place for all families

Assemblymember Sayegh Not Seeking Re-Election

Assemblymember Nader Sayegh announced he will not be seeking re-election this fall. The Yonkers lawmaker was first elected in 2018. Prior to serving in the Assembly, Sayegh was a teacher and school superintendent and is licensed Attorney.

The Assemblymember said his reason for not running is tied directly to the upcoming ban on outside income, becoming the first member to publicly admit the outside income ban is the reason for not seeking re-election. More are expected to decline re-election bids for the same reason.

In The News

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

N.Y. pols to spar over affordability, insurance reforms as they return to Albany.

N.Y. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie discusses Trump cuts, energy policy and redistricting in upcoming legislative session.

Trump administration says it is withholding social safety net money from 5 states over fraud concerns.

As N.Y. lawmakers prepare for session geared toward progress on child care, Trump administrations says they’ll withhold funds.

New York state updates Farmland Protection program after comptroller audit.

Thousands of New Yorkers start new year with higher health care costs.

What do New Yorkers want from Albany? Inside NY’s affordability crisis.

Judge disqualifies US attorney in New York, tosses Letitia James subpoenas.

Prosecutors said to pursue new investigation of Letitia James.

Notoriously fraudulent NY health program lost $1.2 billion to scammers and middlemen: ‘Minnesota multiplied by 10’.

Taxing the rich is off the table, Gov. Kathy Hochul says.

Legal, Online Sports Betting has Generated Almost $4 Billion in Tax Revenue for New York State in Under 5 years.

Assemblyman Sayegh announces he will not seek reelection.

Coming Up

The Senate will hold a public hearing to discuss risks, solutions, and best practices with respect to the use of artificial intelligence in consequential or high-risk contexts, and related issues, such as classification of the types and risk levels of AI uses, frameworks for auditing AI tools for bias, and transparency improvements, on January 15.

The Assembly will hold a public hearing on the use and impact of electric bicycles and electric scooters on January 22.