By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

Jan. 28, 2026: As is my custom, I reviewed the legislative activities in Albany for 2025 and culled the bills signed by the Governor that can have various degrees of impact on our Village.

The Governor acted on 853 pieces of legislation in 2025, not a record but close to it. She signed 712 pieces of legislation and vetoed 141 on a par with non-Covid years. As a comparison, Governor Gavin Newsome signed 794 bills into law and vetoed 123.

-The Responsible Artificial Intelligence Safety and Education Act or RAISE after negotiation, the bill mirrors that of California after an outcry from Google and Open AI. The tweaked legislation requires developers to create AI frameworks with standardized criteria and to report “critical safety incidents” to New York within 72 hours. It is definitely worth a deep read.

-A prison reform bill requires video footage of inmates’ deaths to be released; triples the State Commission on Correction and calls on prisons to install cameras in infirmaries. This is a direct result of the death of Robert Brooks in an upstate corrections facility.

-A bill to exempt MTA workers from bus lane tickets so long as they were working on the transit agency’s vehicles.

-Charitable organizations, including volunteer firefighters and veteran nonprofit groups, can also continue to use “Electric Bell Jar “machines for fundraising.

-Prison Omnibus Bill expands use of cameras inside prisons and vehicle transports to prison and increases reporting and investigative powers when deaths occur.

-Allow terminally ill patients the choice to end their life when having less than six months to live. (contains many caveats)

-Protect All Students Act - protect students attending private schools from bullying, discrimination or harassment when at school, online or at school events.

-Amends Civil Service law to increase maximum age for appointment as a police officer from 34 to 43.

-$5 million to add 29 employees in the Office of Cannabis Management dedicated to enforcement against illicit cannabis operations.

-New Yorkers are now guaranteed that their health insurance plans must cover medical costs that previously could be denied. As of January 1, insurers must cover mammograms and other tests to screen for breast cancer; pay for EpiPens with a $100 annual cap on the patient’s out-of-pocket cost; and cover scalp cooling systems that cancer patients use during and after-chemotherapy treatments to limit hair loss.

-New York parents with children under four will get a bigger break on this year’s tax returns. The maximum credit was raised to $1000 from $330 as part of a two-year phase-in increase.

-Legislation that modernizes family law by allowing couples to legally separate without proving fault, reducing conflict and streamlining court proceedings.

-Survivors of domestic violence and financial abuse are now able to be exempt from debts incurred through coercion or fraud

-Law shields providers and helpers from civil or criminal liability for performing or assisting with reproductive or gender affirming care that is lawful in New York, even when targeted by out of state laws.

-Trapped Work Act - prohibits employers from requiring employees to pay for training or assign promissory notes if they leave, effectively banning stay or pay agreements.

-Social media warning labels require platforms to label features that may impact the mental health of young users.

-$250 million to assist municipalities and businesses in building the needed electric fast charging infrastructure to accommodate not only passenger vehicles but electric school buses and other heavy-duty vehicles.

-$100 million in capital grants to support the expansion of childcare enrollment capacity in order to serve additional children.

-Middle Class Tax Cuts

     -Married couples with incomes up to $323,000 who file jointly

     -Heads of households with incomes up to $269,300

     -Single taxpayers and married taxpayers who file separately with incomes up to $215,400

-Universal School Meals - $340 million to establish a Universal Free School Meals program enabling students to eat school breakfast and lunch at no charge regardless of income or the school they attend.

-Law empowers police chiefs and other law enforcement appointing authorities to remove candidates who fail their psychological screening from the eligible list.

-Extends producer responsibility for rechargeable battery recycling programs, specifically to include batteries that power electric scooters and bicycles

-Elimination of MTA payroll tax for municipalities.

-$1 billion to NYC to develop 80,000 new homes.

-Mental Hygiene Law amended to allow for the involuntary commitment of adults.

-Additional $500 million for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act to provide drinking water and wastewater infrastructure grants and loans.

-New bill bars callers to the NYC Administration for Children Services from leaving anonymous tips about potential child abuse or endangerment.

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”  Mark Twain

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