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It all starts with: The Executive Budget, due by January 31st every year. Executive does not mean “final.” Executive simply means it’s coming from the executive branch of NYS government: in other words: (in 2026) the office of Governor Kathy Hochul. Note: Housing advocates who love to be “in the weeds” can glean some info beforehand by reading the Governor’s State of the State.

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Alex Yong

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alex.yong.nyc�@gmail.com

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Who’s allowed to react to the Executive

Budget once it’s announced? ANYBODY!

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Slides 2-7 illustrate which reactions get on-the-record, and how the Governor “reacts �to the reactions”. But most of all, this slideshow

is about when the phases of the NYS Budget �begin and end, so housing advocates can plan �before the year-end holidays without rushing.

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All of February, the Legislature must “react” to the Governor’s Executive Budget via the:

Senate “One-House” proposed budget, and the Assembly “One-House” proposed budget. Both are due by the first few days of March each year. The text inside each of these 2 proposed budgets should reflect “the will of the people”. All 213 Legislators (63 Senators and 150 Assemblymembers) try to attend relevant hearings. Everything in this phase is overseen by the 2 legislators shown below, as well as Central Staff and Program & Counsel Staff.

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State Senator Liz Krueger (Chair of the Senate Finance Committee) and

�Assembly Member Gary Pretlow (Chair of the Assembly Ways & Means Committee)� �

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ranking leaders take the wheel for the home �stretch - the last dance of the big dance.

� In 2025, those 2 top leaders are: ��

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When the Senate One-House and the Assembly One-House are ready for sign-off by early March, State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Gary Pretlow sign off on their One-House document. The 2 One-Houses are never precisely “matchy-matchy”, but many items do end up with similarities or sometimes even identical. Next, the Legislature’s 2 highest-

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In 2026, those 2 leaders are:

Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (Senate Majority Leader) and �Assemblyman Carl Heastie (Speaker of the Assembly)

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Next up: The final high-stakes negotiations

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1st week of March:�The week for� handoff

1st week of March:�The week for� handoff

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As the final leg of the State Budget process, 3 leaders get into 1 room to agree on a finalized NYS Budget, ideally before April 1st. (It’s typically always late.) The old slang for this last negotiation phase was “Three men in a room”.�That slang can’t be used for this phase as of 2012; it’s not 3 men.

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The only 3 people allowed to be in this�negotiation room are elected-by-the-people

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*Side note on � Kathy Hochul:� She wasn’t elected� to her 1st year as the� Governor, but the � circumstances that

year were unique

So when can housing advocates insert their voices?

�You can contact legislators anytime of the year, especially as a constituent. Beyond that, you can also testify either in-person and/or in writing during Budget season in Albany. Example of in-person testimony: here (video) (and read Slide 6 and Slide 2)

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For high-level activism, housing advocates TESTIFY AND ANSWER LEGISLATORS’ QUESTIONS at the February ONE-HOUSE HEARINGS�For efficiency they’re usually “joint hearings” (2 chambers together (Senate & Assembly))

�The February hearings focus on reactions to the Governor’s Executive Budget. Also: relevant legislative�committees hear PUBLIC INPUT. In all the hearings, state agencies testify first. “Witnesses” after. If you’re only giving written testimony and not speaking, you’re allowed to officially submit your testimony pretty close to the hearing date. If you plan to speak, there are extra rules to follow. Important reminder: You’ll be recorded in the Legislature’s video library - forever! You’re required to sit there and answer q’s too.

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This link nyassembly.gov/leg/?sh=hear gives deadline info and contact info for the� press and anyone. For the 2026 Housing Committee hearing, the deadline has � passed (Jan. 28, 2026) … But you can still submit written testimony in PDF format � as late as Feb. 25, 2026, 5pm!

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How to request an invitation to�testify

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Where housing advocates ‘tend to get confused’ �

• Just remember, the 2 One Houses are DOCUMENTS. New advocates hear “house” and they think “a building with a roof”, etc., etc. Don’t think that. The 2 One-Houses are temporary documents (which come from 2 bodies). Temporary as in: Supposed to be alive for 8 weeks (though sadly often needed beyond April 1st). As stated earlier, the 2 One-House documents are reactions to the Governor’s Executive Budget.
• A policy doesn’t need to have an implementation cost or any type of fiscal ask to be in the State Budget. Those are called Article VII’s - they exist in the 2 One-Houses as well as the Executive Budget. In an Article VII, what’s required is a ‘fiscal impact statement.’ That’s not the same thing as asking for money. New advocates hear “budget” and they immediately think “cost”, “financial component” - not always true. Carl Heastie says late Budgets are the fault of Article VII’s (Click here)
• As stated earlier, “Executive Budget” doesn’t mean final. It’s named that way to reflect the Executive Branch of NY State’s government (a.k.a. the Governor’s office)

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“Big Uglies” & Role of Legislators

• “Big Uglies”: Amalgamation bills of all the “ideas” which became crises�(political crises)�
• Legislature passes bills typically two times: at the end of March (Budget) and in June (when session ends)�
• Initial individual bills serve to push IDEAS or ISSUES to the front. �
• Organizing around the ideas (as bills) forces “Leadership” to consider the issue seriously.

New York’s Governors have 3 basic options when they’re asked to sign a bill passed by the Legislature:

1. Not sign the bill via veto or pocket veto - www.reinventalbany.org/2023/12/the-bill-passed-when-will-it-finally-land-on-the-governors-desk/ www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/02/hochul-issues-rare-pocket-veto/402960/
2. Say “yes” and sign it as is
3. Or say “yes” with changes known as “chapter amendments”

Chapter amendments are made for three reasons:

1. There are technical errors in the bill
2. They are the only way to get the Governor to sign a bill
3. Stakeholder pressure

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More clarity on ELFA and Article VII policy proposals

Housing court judges

• Article VII’s are also divided into 5 "Article VII" bills, which are organized by subject area. They are: PPGG (Public Protection and General Government), ELFA, HMH (Health and Mental Hygiene), TEDE (Transportation, Economic Development and Environmental Conservation), and Revenue.
• These Article VII bills contain policy language (i.e., the legislative language enacting various policies or changing a statute), as opposed to the "appropriation bills," which are the bills that contain the line-item appropriations (In other words, funding and spending)
• The Executive Budget, the 2 One-Houses (Senate and Assembly), and the final Enacted Budget are all divided into the same structure of the five Article VII bills and the four appropriation bills.

Source: a helpful friendly staffer from the Senate!

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