The New York State Bar Association’s 2024 Government Relations End-Of-Year Update
1.10.2025
2024 was a productive year for the New York State Bar Association’s Government Relations. We have had several priorities and policies signed into law and look forward to 2025’s Legislative Session to continue to build on our 2024 successes.
Leading the successes was the adoption of the New York State Equal Rights Amendment (commonly known as Prop 1) that amended Article 1, Section 11 of the New York Constitution. Section 11 now protects against unequal treatment based on race, color, creed, and religion, and now also protects against unequal treatment based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes, as well as reproductive healthcare and autonomy. The amendment allows laws to prevent or undo past discrimination. NYSBA proudly advocated for passage of the amendment in the Legislature, and our Women in Law Section gave valuable contribution to educating the public by creating a fact sheet that was posted on our website.
The Governor did not begin acting on many bills until late autumn, but a flurry of bills were approved or vetoed late in the year. In total, Governor Hochul signed 678 bills and vetoed 124 bills, with decisions on several major pieces of legislation coming just before the end of the year.
Notably, Governor Hochul again vetoed the Grieving Families Act, legislation that would expand New York’s wrongful death law to allow plaintiffs to sue for emotional damages. Opponents of the legislation argue that an expansion of wrongful death liability would significantly drive-up healthcare costs. In her veto message, Hochul wrote, “For the third year in a row, the Legislature has passed a bill that continues to pose significant risks to consumers, without many of the changes I expressed openness to in previous rounds of negotiations.”
NYSBA State Legislative Priorities and Policies
Support for the Assigned Counsel rate increase, one of NYSBA’s top priorities, was again included in the budget this year, ensuring that the State would continue to share the burden of cost with municipalities while still aiding those individuals who provide services. The Association continues to call on the State to fully fund the increased rate, and to enact a permanent escalator mechanism.
Notary Bill: Among other legislative priorities for 2024 was the passage of A7241-A(Lavine)/S8663(Hoylman-Sigal), a bill which would exempt non-electronic notarial acts from the record-keeping rules and regulations set forth by the Department of State. NYSBA’s leadership and the Government Relations team advocated strenuously in support for this bill through memos and meetings and mobilized Association membership in a NYSBA run campaign enabling members to message their legislators asking for their support. This campaign garnered over 500 letters leading to this legislation passing in both houses. NYSBA was very pleased that it was able to successfully get support of both houses of the legislature for this bill, but we were disappointed that the Governor vetoed the bill. Since she issued the veto, we have been working with the Department of State and the legislature to identify other ways to solve the on-going issues created by the Department of State record keeping regulations imposed on in-person notarizations.
NYSBA saw several pieces of legislation supported by Association policy pass in both houses this session. See below for those signed by the Governor and for those that Government Relations will continue to advocate for in 2025:
- S895-B/A6789-B, a bill which requires disclosure of certain social media terms of service. This bill was supported by the Task Force on Combatting Antisemitism and Anti-Asian Hate’s Report, adopted by NYSBA’s House of Delegates in January 2024. This bill was signed by the Governor and will take effect in June of 2025.
- S7524/A10350, a bill which would expand current authority for the use of e-filing in the courts. This bill was supported by Committee on Court Structure and Operations’ 2012 Report along with the 2023 Report by the Task Force on the Modernization of Criminal Practice. This bill was signed by the Governor and will go into effect immediately.
- S9839/A10540, a bill which increases the number of Family Court judges throughout the state as well as increases the number of judges of the Civil Court of the City of New York. The Committee on Family and the Law’s 2022 Report supports this policy. This bill was chaptered by the Governor and will take effect immediately.
- S206-A/A1432-A, a bill which removes the lifetime ban on jury duty for convicted felons. This bill is supported by the Task Force on Racism, Social Equity and the Law’s 2023 Report. This bill was vetoed by the Governor, and we will continue to advocate for it in 2025.
- S7567-A/A9143, a bill to ensure state-paid judges and justices receive death benefits even if they were not retired by the time of their death. A resolution was adopted by the Association in 2015 to support this policy. This bill was vetoed by the Governor – NYSBA is continuing to advocate for this legislative fix and has urged the Executive to address it in her forthcoming budget proposal.
- S5414/A5366, a concurrent resolution to remove the current constitutional cap on the number of supreme court justices, allowing the legislature to set the number of judges as they do for every other court. The Committee on the New York State Constitution supported this issue in their 2017 Report on the Judiciary Article of the NYS Constitution.
See below some policies that we will continue to advocate for in the 2025 legislative Session. Note that the bill numbers are the 2023-2024 legislative session numbers and will change when introduced in 2025:
- S9281/A8879, which would repeal section 470 of the judiciary law which requires out-of-state attorneys to have a physical office in NYS. This bill which passed both houses in 2023 but then was vetoed by the Governor, passed in the Senate this year, but did not make it out of committee in the Assembly before session ended.
- S999-A/A170-A, which would establish the right to legal counsel in immigration court proceedings.
- S2721, which would establish the civil right to counsel in eviction proceedings in NYS.
- A995-C/S2445-C, the Medical Aid in Dying Act (MAID), a bill which would amend the public health law, in relation to a terminally ill patient’s request for and use of medication for medical aid in dying. This bill was amended several times and did not move out of the health committee in either house before the end of session.
New York State Bar Association Priorities – 2025
NYSBA’ Legislative Policy Committee choose a list of seven State and seven Federal priorities for the Association to focus our advocacy efforts on in 2025.
A list of the priorities can be found on our website here under the NYSBA Legislative Priorities tab.
Our Association membership is diverse, covering a wide range of interests and specialties. Please know that if a policy was not chosen as a priority, the Government Relations team will still be advocating for all policies that are important to our members.
Committee and Section Legislative Action
The New York State Bar Association has 28 sections and over 60 committees and task forces that members participate in. Many of these bodies were legislatively active this year with over 50 memos, comments and letters submitted to the houses of the Legislature, the Governor, and State Agencies in 2024. Legislative updates for specific committees and sections are available on our website.
If your Committee or Section is interested in submitting a memo in support or opposition of pending legislation, or commenting on a regulatory change, please contact our Director of Government Relations Matthew Pennello at [email protected], or Lena Faustel, Government Relations Policy Manager, at [email protected].
A full list of the bills we advocated for this session can be found here: 2023 and 2024 Legislative Memoranda – New York State Bar Association (nysba.org)
NYSBA in Washington DC
In April, the leadership of NYSBA met with a select group of New York Members of Congress and their staffs to discuss the Association’s 2024 federal priorities and to offer to serve as a resource for the elected officials as they develop legislation. NYSBA attendees included, Richard Lewis, NYSBA President; Dominick Napoletano, President-elect; Kathleen Sweet, President-elect designee; T. Andrew Brown, past-President; and Hilary Jochmans, Federal Legislative Policy Consultant.
Federal priorities for 2024 included the timely topics of: crisis in immigration representation; firearms and mass shootings; Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Funding; sealing records of criminal conviction; sexual orientation and gender identity protection; student loan relief; voting rights and women’s rights and a federal right to abortion.
The issue of student loans garnered the most discussion and engagement from both Members and staff. There is an interest in developing a plan for loan forgiveness for lawyers who serve in rural/underserved areas, similar to the federal program for doctor and dentists. Artificial Intelligence was another popular topic, even though it was not on the priority list. It was top of mind since the House of Delegates had just approved the report. Many members were interested in the issue since the topic cuts across committee lines and many of them are following it. Members and staff were also interested in the NYSBA reports on affirmative action, firearms, mental health, and homelessness.
In addition to this annual lobby day, NYSBA meets with Congressional members and staff throughout the year to advocate for the priorities as well as to serve as a resource for Congress in developing legislation. NYSBA will continue to advocate for priorities key to the integrity of the legal profession in 2025.
