Congratulations — at long last, the bill you support has passed the New York State Legislature! But there’s a problem: Months have gone by since passage, and the bill still hasn’t been signed. Why is this taking so long? Why won’t the Legislature just send the bill to the Governor?
There’s a reason: While in the NYS constitution, bills are “presented” to the Governor, in practice, bills are REQUESTED by the Governor.
With so many bills passed, it’s simply impractical for the Legislature to send them all to the Governor. According to NYPIRG, the Legislature passed 839 bills in 2023, and 1,007 in 2022. That’s a lot of legislation for the Governor’s staff to review in the seven months from the end of the legislative session in early June until the end of the year.
To deal with this volume of bills in an orderly way, the Governor and Legislature long ago informally agreed that the former would “call up” small batches of bills when she is ready to sign or veto them (or modify via “chapter amendment”).
To help clarify the NYS’s arcane process of sending and signing bills, we’ve answered some frequently asked questions below. To find the answers, we took a look at historical records and consulted some experts. We do not claim to be the final authority, and welcome your corrections.
Why do so many important bills go to the Governor in December?
During the time between the bill’s passage and it being called to the Governor’s desk, the Governor’s office consults with supporters and opponents of the bill (and sometimes with independent experts). Simple, uncontroversial bills are typically called first, and the most politically contentious are called last.
The bills the Governor is most troubled by are often acted on at the last possible minute, as late as New Year’s Eve. This is for two reasons: 1) So that the Governor’s office can have as much time as possible to make a decision, and/or 2) To avoid bad press that might come out of the Governor’s decision.
For example, if the Governor vetoes a popular transparency bill on Dec. 31st, most reporters will be celebrating the new year and not see the veto, or not report on it, so the Governor will be largely spared any negative press. This is the same reason that government agencies prefer to announce bad news on Friday evenings.
How long does the Governor have to sign a bill after it is sent by the legislature?
- 10 days (excluding Sundays) for bills sent from January 1 until December 21st, otherwise the bill is considered “pocket-approved.”
- 30 days (excluding Sundays) for bills sent from December 22nd to December 31st, otherwise the bill is considered “pocket-vetoed.”
But wait – according to the NYS constitution, isn’t the 30-day pocket veto period triggered after the Legislature’s “final adjournment”?
This is where it gets tricky, because the Legislature has not adjourned since the 1970s. We think a literal reading of the state constitution implies that all pocket vetoes since the last adjournment have been unconstitutional. (Tell us what we’re missing and we’ll send you a free Reinvent Albany pen and correct this post!)
However, in practice, the Legislature appears to be considered to “finally adjourn” on December 21st. Many bills have been sent to the Governor during the period from December 22nd to 31st and not acted on, which is considered a “pocket veto.” However, we cannot find any record of the Legislature contesting these seemingly unconstitutional pocket vetoes in court. At least one scholar has argued that in theory, the Legislature can be considered adjourned at the end of the year.
According to yet another legal theory, the 30-day pocket veto period is triggered when there are no longer ten days remaining in the year (excluding Sunday) for the bill to be signed. If this theory is true, it means that in 2023, the 30-day pocket veto period is triggered on December 20th, since December 19th is the last day when there will be 10 days (excluding Sundays) for the Governor to sign the bill. However, Reinvent Albany could not find any bill since 1995 delivered before December 22nd that was not signed within 10 days (excluding Sundays). Therefore, we believe the 30-day pocket veto period is triggered on December 22nd.
How often do pocket vetoes and pocket approvals happen?
Pocket vetoes happen occasionally. As recently as 2021, former Governor Cuomo pocket-vetoed a bill that would have required the state to study high-speed broadband internet. We could find no record of a pocket approval in recent history.
When does the Legislature have to send bills to the Governor?
The NYS Constitution does not say when the Legislature must send a bill to the governor, but the rules of the Senate and Assembly do.
Assembly rules say if a bill passes the Assembly first, the timeline for delivery depends on the date that the bill is returned to the Assembly after passing the Senate. Most bills are returned on the same day that they passed the other house:
- January 1 to April 30: Bill sent to Governor 10 days after the bill is returned to the Assembly.
- May 1 to May 31: 30 days.
- June 1 to December 31: 45 days.
Senate rules say if a bill passed the Senate first, the Senate must send the bill to the Governor 45 days after the bill is returned to the Senate — UNLESS the Senator who sponsors the bill asks for the bill to be held (which they typically do until the bill is called up by the Governor). After the Senator rescinds the request, the bill must be sent within 7 days.
In other words, when the Senate passes a bill first, all these convoluted rules effectively mean nothing since the Senate lets the Governor call the shots anyway.
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We hope this was helpful! Please send comments or questions to Tom Speaker, Legislative Director, tom [at] reinventalbany [dot] org.
Want to learn more about the legislative process in New York? Check out our blog post: “Everything you ever wanted to know about chapter amendments.”