2025 Health/Mental Hygiene End of Session Bill Summary

June 23, 2025

Many thanks are due to our government relations consultant Marcy Savage and the team at RMS for sharing this useful summary of legislation that passed in both houses before the end of the 2025 legislative session.  The vast majority of these bills have yet to be acted on by the Governor, with some notable exceptions including the bill we told you about last week that extends the date by which certain practitioners need to obtain the new Diagnostic Privilege (date changed from 6/2025 to 6/2027).  This will allow these practitioners to continue to diagnose and perform assessment-based treatment planning, assuming all other conditions are met. (See page 11, second item.)

June 23, 2025

2025 Health/Mental Hygiene End of Session Bill Summary

The regularly scheduled 2025 legislative session has now concluded with the Senate adjourning just after 4 a.m. on Friday, June 13, and the Assembly working past midnight on Wednesday, June 18 after adding three additional session days to their calendar following a late budget enactment on May 7th. As of the official end of session, Governor Hochul already signed or vetoed less than a quarter of the 856 individual bills passed by both houses during the 2025 legislative session. All bills that have passed both houses but not yet acted on by the Governor will need to be transmitted to her desk before the end of the year for her to sign, veto or negotiate chapter amendments. All bills not passed this year will remain live for the 2026 legislative session.

Lawmakers have now returned to their districts while Congress actively considers pending federal legislation that would enact the largest spending cuts in United States history. The Governor and Legislative leaders continue to express concern regarding the impact of these cuts on the State’s Medicaid program and General Fund, with all signs pointing to a return of the Legislature in September to address fiscal and legislative matters resulting from these major federal policy changes.

While the legislature declined to act on a number of measures including legislation to enhance enforcement of illicit e-cigarette sales, a bill that would have reduced the prevalence of plastic packaging, and the New York for All Act which would codify and expand New York’s sanctuary policies, they did pass a number of high-profile measures including:

  • The Medical Aid in Dying Act, to provide mentally capable, terminally ill patients with less than six months to live the opportunity to request a prescription medication from their doctor, which they may ingest to end their lives (described further below);
  • A prison reform package which combined ten separate prison reform proposals in one omnibus bill to increase membership on the state Commission of Correction, expand the authority of the independent oversight organization Correctional Association of New York, among other measures;
  • The FAIR Business Practices Act to strengthen protections against “abusive and unfair” practices from businesses by increasing the Attorney General’s enforcement abilities;
  • A scaled-back version of the NY HEAT Act, which will end subsidies for new gas hookups within 100 feet of existing hookups;
  • The Responsible AI Safety and Education Act to require Artificial Intelligence developers to build in safety measures against potential risks of AI (described further below);
  • A bill to reform the state’s “wrongful death” law, to expand on damages that can be sought for “loss of nurture, guidance, counsel, advice, training, companionship, and education” in addition to potential lost support and/or diminishment of inheritance (described further below). This is the fourth year in a row such legislation has passed both houses, having been vetoed by the Governor the last three years.

Attached is a sector-by-sector summary of the bills passed by both the Senate and Assembly in the Health and Mental Hygiene areas this session. We have noted below the legislation that has already been acted on by Governor Hochul while most have yet to be transmitted to her desk for consideration but must be by the end of the calendar year. 
The bill text for any bill can be viewed at: https://nyassembly.gov/leg/. Thank you and please let us know if you have any questions.