Vetoes are a fact of life in the legislative process, and Governor Hochul did sign many bills in the latter half of 2023. However, the ideological divide between the Governor and legislators on some key issues is a narrative dominating coverage of the legislature’s work throughout Governor Hochul’s term.

This dynamic surely informed legislators’ goals for 2024. Ahead of January, legislators set forth slightly less ambitious goals than ahead of the 2023 session. Leadership focused on passing a budget, reaching an agreement on housing, and passing bold climate policy. As always, lawmakers had their work cut out for them. They had just six months to reach a consensus on these and other issues critical to the state.

In this report, we examine some of the major legislative efforts this year. This includes those that we at Plural expect to be signed into law, as well as a few that didn’t make it past the finish line. We also examine the issues that will be critical in November’s elections, as well as at the start of the 2025 legislative session.