Tuesday, November 4 was Election Day in New York. This year featured municipal elections throughout the State, with mayoral elections in Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse, and New York City. The most watched election was the New York City mayoral race, which drew national attention, after Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani resoundingly won the Democratic primary in June. Assemblymember Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa with over 50% of the vote. The results of the New York City mayoral election will impact the 2026 legislative session in Albany, as the State Legislature and the Governor are necessary to implement many of the policy proposals discussed in the mayoral race.  

As the elections have played out, we remained focused on legislation that passed both houses during the 2025 Legislative Session and are preparing for the 2026 legislative session. One of the highest-profile bills awaiting the Governor’s actions is the Medical Aid in Dying Act. This bill would allow a terminally ill patient to request and use medication for medical aid in dying. Eleven other states and the District of Columbia permit medical aid in dying, but New York’s bill is much more narrow than other jurisdictions. It would apply only to individuals who have an incurable and irreversible illness with six months or less to live, which would need to be confirmed by two doctors. The request for medical aid in dying assistance would need to be witnessed by two adults who do not stand to inherit anything in the case of the patient’s death. The legislation was first introduced a decade ago, and this year is the first year it has passed either house. While ANA-NY has not previously taken a position on this legislation, the Legislative Committee voted to support this legislation, and we issued a letter of support to the Governor as she considers whether to sign the bill into law.

Another bill of interest that has yet to be acted on by the Governor would require hospitals to establish a violence prevention program. This program would need to include workplace safety and security assessments. Further, the hospital must develop a safety and security plan that addresses identified workplace violence threats or hazards. The bill also requires any hospital operating in New York City to have at least one off-duty law enforcement officer, or trained security personnel, always present in the emergency department. For those jurisdictions outside of New York City, there must be an off-duty law enforcement officer, or trained security personnel, at the hospital with priority on being near the emergency department. ANA-NY worked with several other health care provider groups to support this legislation, and we will have also shared our support with the Governor of this legislation.

We are also working on shoring up our legislative priorities for the 2026 session. One of our main legislative priorities is a bill would require hospitals to have a registered professional nurse as a sitting and voting member of the governing entity responsible for developing a hospital’s strategic plan, structure, systems, policies and programs. ANA-NY drafted this bill and worked for its introduction. This bill is sponsored by Senator Lea Webb and Assemblymember Karines Reyes. We made extraordinary progress in 2025 on this bill as it passed in the Senate. We have been working on a minor amendment to the legislation to address an issue raised by Assembly. It is our hope that with this amendment, we will also pass the Assembly next year. In addition to working on getting the bill passed, we also worked to put together a strong coalition to support the legislation, which now includes the New York State Nurses Association, Greater NYC Black Nurses Association, NY Organization for Nursing Leadership, NYS Association of Nurse Anesthetists, NYS Council of Perioperative Nurses, and NY League for Nursing. 

While focused on this bill, we are also preparing for some uncertainty that will exist in New York next year. It is going to be a difficult budgetary year for New York, as the federal tax bill enacted in July created a $3.9 billion budget deficit for the State in 2026 and a $34 billion budget deficit for New York over the next five years. The Governor and the Legislature will have to figure out how to address this budget deficit as the New York State Constitution requires New York to pass a balanced budget every year by an April 1 deadline. This is going to be a challenge next year. In addition, 2026 is an election year, when all members of the New York State Senate and Assembly as well as all Statewide Elected offices (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller) are up for election. Further, the members of the New York House of Representatives will also be up for election. 

As next year is a big election year, we want to remind everyone of the ANA-NY PAC, which supports candidates that support the profession and issues of importance to our members. We urge you to visit the ANA-NY PAC web site and donate.

If you have any questions about the legislative process or the priorities of ANA-NY, please contact a member of the Legislative Committee.  As always, we welcome your questions, thoughts, ideas or comments on legislative ideas