January 6, 2023

HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE LEGISLATION

In total, legislators passed over 1,000 individual bills during the 2022 six-month session. At this point, two bills await action by the Governor. We have updated our summary of bills in the Health and Mental Hygiene area to reflect the most up to date information. Please view the update here.

2022: Hochul Vetoes 

The state legislature passed 1,010 bills — a record since at least 1995, the first year with readily available data — and Governor Kathy Hochul signed 841 into law, another record. Even before being elected to her first full term, Hochul signed major gun safety and abortion rights laws and approved the state’s largest-ever budget. 

But Hochul also wielded her veto pen with newfound vigor in 2022, axing 165 bills (as well as 33 line items in the state budget). That marked a noticeable departure from 2021: Having then just taken over for Andrew Cuomo, she largely avoided vetoes in favor of negotiating “chapter amendments” with the legislature. 

Last year, she did both, extracting amendments to 115 bills in addition to those she vetoed. Only Cuomo, in 2019, exercised his influence over a larger share of bills after they passed.  (Source:  NYFocus, 1/6)Here is every bill Governor Hochul vetoed in 2022:https://www.nysfocus.com/2023/01/03/kathy-hochul-vetoes-2022/