Senate could run out of time to vote on Hochul nominees

ALBANY — One consequence of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s waiting so late to get a budget deal:

The State Senate might not have time to vote on all of her pending nominations for state agency commissioners, judgeships and other posts.

Oops.

Because budget negotiations consumed 18 of the 19 scheduled weeks of the 2026 legislative session, the Senate and Assembly have just this final week to approve all the hundreds of bills their rank-and-file members want passed before adjourning, either late Thursday or Friday.

Meanwhile, Hochul has submitted dozens of nominations for the Senate to consider, including several state agency commissioners, board members for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Corrections Commission and 28 judges, according to the Senate.

Customarily, the Senate acts on nominations before the final week of the legislative session. This year, however, the budget wasn’t agreed on and voted on until May 27, even though it was due April 1. The result is that the nominations now are competing with a flurry of bills lawmakers are seeking to approve this week, ranging from congressional redistricting to surveillance pricing to data-center moratoriums.

And the clock is ticking.

With the budget finishing so late, there is "limited time" to give proper vetting to the more than three dozen nominees, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said.

"If we have time to do them, we’ll do what we can," Gianaris (D-Astoria) told Newsday.

State legislators — especially Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) — have complained that Hochul drew out budget negotiations by throwing in a kitchen sink of non-budget policy items, such as climate and immigration laws. And that they had no time remaining for legislators’ own priorities.

But the uncertainty over Hochul’s nominees isn’t so much about pay back as lack of time, a source said.

Nominees to lead high-profile state agencies are getting top priority.

For example, the Senate by late Wednesday afternoon had confirmed  Terence O’Leary at Homeland Security, Kathy Moser at Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and John Kagia at the Office of Cannabis Management, the source said. O’Leary, Moser and Kagia have been serving as commissioners in acting capacities for months.

That said, the Hochul administration submitted upward of 60 nominations to various posts and commissioners. The Senate could trim those to 30 to vet and confirm this week. The Senate also is trying to work through the 28 judicial nominees, the bulk of whom would serve on the Court of Claims, the venue for lawsuits against the state.

Those who don't get confirmed this week would have to wait till the legislature reconvenes in January, following the fall elections.

Hochul's office didn't comment immediately.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy