Today was the first day of the 2026 legislative session. Both the Senate and Assembly convened their opening sessions, and the Capitol was bustling with Legislators and visitors. The first day of session is largely ceremonial, with leaders in both houses laying out their agendas and priorities for the upcoming session.
The two houses will return on Monday, January 12 to begin the legislative process in earnest, and we anticipate that the leaders will address several committee chair vacancies that resulted from several key legislators who will not be returning in 2026 because of retirements and running for other office. In the Assembly, Billy Jones, the chair of the Local Governments Committee, resigned in August. In the Senate, Sean Ryan, the chair of the Commerce Committee, who won his election as Mayor of Buffalo, and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who won his election as Manhattan Borough President, both resigned their seats to assume these new roles. Committees that have existing chairs may change as members are elevated from their current committees to one of the vacancies.
While the first day of session usually means that the Governor delivers her State of the State address that did not happen today. As she has for the past two years, Governor Hochul will deliver her address during the first full week of session, with the State of the State occurring next week, on Tuesday, January 13. Her State of the State will lay out the Governor’s legislative priorities for the coming year and what she would like to see accomplished during this legislative session. Her State of the State address will be followed one week later with her proposed Executive Budget address, which will happen on Tuesday, January 20.
While her State of the State address didn’t happen today, the Governor has started previewing proposals that will be included on her priority list. The first policy proposal unveiled would expand protections for children online, including disabling AI chatbot features on social media platforms for kids and parental controls for children’s financial transactions online. More proposals will be revealed during the lead-up to the State of the State address, but we expect affordability to be front and center as well as proposals to address inefficiencies in New York State government, childcare, and housing.
Once the Governor delivers her Executive Budget proposal, this will officially kick off the start of the budget process. Once her address is completed, the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee will announce their joint budget hearing schedules, which will last until the end of February. In March, both houses will release their proposed one-house budget bills, which are their response to the Governor’s proposals. From there, negotiations will begin between the Governor, Senate and Assembly with the hope of having a final budget deal in place by April 1, the deadline mandated by the State Constitution.
While hope springs eternal, we anticipate that the budget will likely not be completed by the April 1 deadline. There are always a variety of challenges each year related to an on-time budget, but there are some unique challenges this year. The State is anticipating a budget gap of
$4.2 billion, in large part due to the impact of the federal tax bill signed into law in 2025. Further, the federal government must pass a budget or a continuing budget resolution by January 31, making the State’s financial picture even more uncertain. Ideas for revenue-raisers of all types are on the table, although the Governor has firmly opposed increasing taxes on individuals. Additionally, the fact that this year is an election year will be a factor surrounding all the budget conversations.
Once the budget is done, we will pivot to the non-budget issues with the goal of completing session by Thursday, June 4. As we noted, this is an election year, and it is a significant one. In addition to the elections for all 213 members of the New York State Legislature, there will be elections for all four Statewide offices (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller) as well as elections for all 23 members of United States House of Representatives. Primary elections will be at the end of June on Tuesday, June 26, and the General Election will be on Tuesday, November 3.
As always, we will be sending updates as the session advances. Please let us know if you have any questions.