Advocacy

Governor Hochul has released her executive budget proposal, and we are thrilled to report she has included our bill to allow insurance companies to waive photo inspections. Since the bill was vetoed in November 2022, we have been negotiating with the Governor to reach an agreement, and those efforts have paid off.The proposed budget legislation, if passed, will take effect in October of 2023, and carriers will be allowed to waive photo inspections until October 2027. Between now and April 1st, the state Senate and Assembly will release their own budget proposals, and then the Governor and Legislative Leaders will negotiate a final budget. Therefore, we need…

On January 10th, in the Assembly Chamber, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her second State of the State Address. In her address, the Governor declared, “the state of our state is strong." Throughout her speech, the Governor outlined her various priorities for the upcoming Legislative Session, which she is calling the “Achieving the New York Dream," Agenda. Some of the priorities she mentioned in her speech include increasing housing in the State, raising the minimum wage, expanding access to mental health services and child care services, continuing to work on meeting the State's climate goals, and potential changes to New York's bail laws. The Governor also…

​On January 4th, Assemblyman David Weprin (D, Queens) was named chair of the influential Assembly Insurance Committee. Weprin succeeds former chair Kevin Cahill (D, Kingston) who lost re-election in 2022.​​ Virtually all legislation affecting the insurance laws and regulations in NY must be approved by the Insurance Committee before a full vote of the Assembly can be taken. As such, it is one of the most important legislative committees to our industry.Assemblyman Weprin represents the 24th Assembly District in Queens, the same district represented by his father, the late Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin, for 23 years and his brother Mark Weprin, for over 15 years. In…