Lawmakers returned to Albany this week ahead of a crucial year for Gov. Kathy Hochul and other Democratic leaders as they prepare for a clash with the incoming Trump administration.
Ahead of Wednesday's official return to the state capital, Democrats are already scrambling over the past year's key projects and political priorities, including the contentious New York mayoral primary and the governor's own promises. Policy discussions are likely to take a backseat as he prepares for re-election. In 2026.
Here are some key issues and storylines to watch in 2025.
How do Albany Democrats plan to deal with President Trump?
Liberal Democrats, on their knees after Republican Donald Trump's stunning upset victory in November's election, are likely to try to respond to the policies of their next commander-in-chief.
Both New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Mr. Hochul have said the state will work with immigration authorities to find compromises in pursuing illegal immigrants who commit crimes in New York, and that this is a first-term Trump policy. This is a shift from the confrontational approach taken against the government.
The state is expected to tackle issues that don't get much attention, such as providing federal funding to prop up New York's bloated budget.
Lawmakers and budget officials told the Post that the Trump administration will not be able to map out specifically where it can begin spending money for the Empire State until April 1, when the state's fiscal plan is technically in place. He said it would be difficult, if not impossible, because it was scheduled so far in advance.
“It will certainly be a necessary input into this budgeting process,” Hochul Budget Director Blake Washington told reporters recently.
Some areas of state budgets, such as Medicaid, education and transportation funding, are expected to be key targets for a White House with policies that are less favorable to blue states.
Affordability – theater or reality?
Hochul plans to make affordability a mainstay of his State of the Nation address and executive budget proposal, following the Democratic Party's crushing defeat in last year's election.
Paul is expected to tout himself as an advocate for affordability, but whether the policies they champion in Albany this year are concrete or effective is another story entirely.
Last month, Hochul announced plans to send $500 checks to households making less than $300,000 a year. Hochul is claiming the benefit as an “inflation refund” after receiving higher-than-expected consumption tax revenue, but financial experts say the plan is all show and little substance.
Ken Girardin, director of research at the Empire Public Policy Center, said in a post: “Addressing affordability is about reducing costs, not telling people to feel comfortable paying more.” told the paper.
Hochul is also considering proposing income tax cuts for middle-class earners and stronger tax credits for families with children, the people said. The governor promised last year not to raise income taxes in 2025.
Adams also wants Albany to: Approve the cut City income tax on income earners at or just above the poverty line.
Lawmakers could propose other proposals, perhaps more focused and specific, around affordability, especially when it comes to child care, officials said.
Tax Increase to Fund MTA
Affordability advocate Paul in Albany is also grappling with how to raise $33 billion in revenue for the MTA's $68 billion, five-year capital plan, a predicament that will reduce taxes and fees to New Yorkers. It is almost certain that this will lead to an increase.
“I think taxes in general will be part of the discussion,” Hochul, the Washington budget director, told reporters.
Lawmakers, including state Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger, said they agree that new taxes are being considered.
Hochul fully supported the MTA's $68 billion funding request last year, but without a full explanation of how the transit agency planned to pay for the money. At the last minute, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie formally opposed the plan, and negotiations were officially postponed to this year's budget talks.
The Congressional veto meant negotiators had more room to negotiate not just how the plan would be funded, but also its overall size.
Capital planning negotiations take place against the backdrop of the Trump administration, but they are unlikely to be as favorable to the MTA as they were when Democrats were in power in Washington in 2020.
mental health
Hochul and Congressional leaders have indicated that combating violence stemming from the mental health crisis is one of their top priorities this year. As incidents like this hit the Big Apple.
Last week, Hochul issued a statement saying he would unveil proposals aimed at making the state's mental health system more efficient in caring for the violently mentally ill. The move comes after a bloody few weeks of violent crimes on the city's transit system, including the burning death of a woman on an F train.
Hochul said she wants to make it easier to send people in mental health crises to hospitals.
Mr Heastie agrees that involuntary commitments need to be part of the discussion.
“We still don't think prison is a place to help people with serious mental health issues, so we need to address this issue,” Heastie said in a recent interview.
The city's mayor spoke with Hochul about the push during a visit to Albany last month, but it's unclear whether Hochul is currently on the same page as Adams.
Groups such as the New York State Mental Health Association and the New York Civil Liberties Union have already opposed changes to involuntary commitments. They may form alliances with left-wing lawmakers who regularly reject even the most sensible efforts to strengthen criminal justice laws.
education expenditure
Last year, Mr. Hochul withdrew his call to overhaul the outdated foundation aid funding formula for New York schools.
The governor's efforts were rejected, but she and the Legislature deferred the issue until 2025 and awarded a $1 million study to the Rockefeller Institute of Government on how best to create and implement changes to foundation aid. I agreed to entrust it.
A day after the extensive study was published, Ms. Hochul's office told the Post that it was reversing her calls for sanitization. This is an important official provision that prevents school districts from receiving less state funding, even if they receive subsidies. Population decline.
Eliminating the seemingly innocuous hold would cut funding for nearly half of New York's school districts, putting Hochul at odds with powerful teachers unions and many lawmakers.
With the governor abandoning his efforts to reform New York's education funding system, it's unclear how tough choices lawmakers will be willing to make in 2025.
