RAC-NY: The 2025 NY Legislative Session Report

The 2025 NY legislative session ended in June with mixed results on the two major climate bills that RAC-NY supported:

• A bill to reduce single-use plastics (the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act) faced a tidal wave of opposition from the plastic industry in the closing days of the session.
• A bill reducing fossil fuel use in homes and buildings (the NY HEAT Act) was passed only in part — ending one fossil fuel subsidy (known as the 100-ft rule) but leaving out key parts of the original bill.

The story around the bill to reduce single-use plastics (the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act) was particularly dramatic. The bill passed in the Senate and had enough support to pass the Assembly – it simply needed to be brought for a floor vote by the Assembly Speaker before the legislative session ended.

On the last few days of the legislative session, lobbyists for major corporations and trade groups (i.e. the American Chemistry Council) flooded Albany to try to stop it from being brought for a vote. The Assembly’s leadership wrangled over whether to schedule a vote as late as 10pm on the final night of the legislative session. In the end, the plastic industry convinced the Speaker to adjourn the legislative session without voting on the bill.

Despite our losses, we’ve grown our power and base through this campaign. We’re specifically proud of the following:

• We (and our coalition partners) drove the agenda in Albany. Over the last week of the NY legislative session, Albany was essentially empty — except for legislators, their staff, and advocates/lobbyists on either side of the two bills that we were working on. Our two climate bills were the “talk of the town” — and the major items that the legislators had to sort through as the session ended.
• We deepened our relationships with legislators. We now have several members of our leadership who are on text/call basis with their legislators; we can meet directly with key, senior legislators; and specifically in the last few weeks of our campaign we were uniquely able to speak directly with a key legislator opposing the legislation.

Where we’re going

Over the next several months, we’ll turn our focus to the following:

1. We will advocate that Gov. Hochul sign the one piece of climate legislation that was passed -- i.e. ending the fossil fuel subsidy known as the "100-ft rule."
2. We will research and decide which issue/bills we will focus on in 2026. We have decided that we will work on climate and one other issue -- but will evaluate which issue to work on in addition to climate and which specific legislation.
3. We will recruit new congregations and expand our base to other parts of the state.

How to get involved

• To get involved in the campaign and stay up to date, sign up here.
• If you or your congregation would like to connect with other social justice-minded individuals and congregations across the country, please attend the RAC’s 2025 Consultation on Conscience in Washington, DC from December 12 – 15.