New York will enact first-in-the-nation laws in 2025 that will wipe out insulin costs for diabetes patients and ensure pregnant workers get paid time off for medical appointments.
As part of the state budget that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed in April, health insurers will no longer be able to charge co-pays or deductibles for insulin, eliminating the potential costs for about 1.8 million New Yorkers diagnosed with diabetes. The state had previously capped out-of-pocket spending on insulin at $100 per month.
Another policy change brought about by that $237 billion spending plan: Starting January 1, all private sector employers will now be required to grant their employees up to 20 hours of paid time each year for prenatal care, allowing them to leave work for physical exams, checkups and other matters. pregnancy-related purposes. They can also use that paid time for fertility treatments.
One person with a flag walks past the New York State Capitol in Albany on January 17, 2021.
Both moves were groundbreaking in the US: New York was the first state to require prenatal leave and the first state to ban insulin cost sharing by insurers.
Here are several other public policies set to take effect in 2025, including two that have been challenged in court and are awaiting final decisions on appeal.
New York’s minimum wage rises to $16.50 in the state, and to $15.50 in the state
On January 1, New York’s minimum wage will increase by 50 cents, bringing it to $16.50 in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County and to $15.50 in the rest of the state.
That is part of a series of annual increases set out in the 2023 budget, to be followed by another 50 cents in 2026 and then automatic increases linked to the inflation rate each year thereafter.
New York is one of 21 states raising their minimum wages, boosting incomes for a total of 9.2 million workers nationwide, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The new wage floors in neighboring Connecticut and New Jersey are $16.35 and $15.49, respectively. California’s will rise to $16.50, which is comparable to downstate New York.
Washington state is raising the minimum to $16.66, the highest of any state.
Stretch limos in New York are subject to new safety regulations
New York is phasing in regulations on stretch limousines that were included in the 2024 budget and sought since a horrific limousine crash in Schoharie in 2018 that killed 20 people.
A law that came into effect in October requires such vehicles – expanded to seat nine or more people – to be equipped with window-breaking tools, fire extinguishers and easily accessible emergency exits. The next steps come in April 2025, including a misdemeanor charge and a minimum $5,000 fine for driving a stretch limo suspended for safety defects.
Jill Richardson Perez and her daughter, Ashleigh Coons, mourn Perez’s son Matthew Coons, one of 20 people killed in a limousine crash in Schoharie, NY, on October 6, 2018.
The Schoharie crash occurred after the brakes failed on a limousine that had failed safety inspections and should not have been in use. The dead included 17 friends and family members traveling to a birthday party in Cooperstown, along with the driver and two pedestrians. The operator was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 5-15 years in prison.
$35,000 outside pay cap for New York State lawmakers
State lawmakers gave themselves a 29% raise at the end of 2022, increasing their pay to $142,000. But with those new salaries, the highest of any state legislature in the U.S., came a new stipulation: New York’s 63 Senators and 150 Assembly members could no longer earn more than $35,000 in private-sector employment while on the state payroll.
The external wage cap would come into effect in 2025. But Republican lawmakers filed two lawsuits to block it, arguing it violated the state and federal constitutions, and won their case in July in state court on Long Island. An appeal is pending in the Appellate Division, which may ultimately make its way to the Court of Appeal.
Even-year elections for New York’s county and city offices
New York passed a law in 2023 requiring elections for seats in the county executive, county legislature and municipal council to be held in even years, along with state and federal races. The idea was to increase turnout for local races, which is dismal in odd years, when voter interest is lower.
That transition would begin in 2025, when terms for local offices on the November ballot would be shortened by a year so that the next election could be held in an even year.
Voters and poll workers fill a hallway at Yonkers High School, one of the city’s voting locations on Nov. 5, 2024.
But a slew of cities and counties sued to challenge the law and won a case in Onondaga County in October. Opponents argue that within even years, local races will be drowned out by state and national politics and must remain separate. They called the mandate an infringement on local authority.
Election Shift: NY can move local elections to even years. What does that mean for voter turnout?
The fate of the even-year election law now rests with the Court of Appeals, which has been asked to hear all eight lawsuits filed in the state.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared in Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Laws Taking Effect Jan. 1: Free Insulin, Paid Prenatal Care Leave
