My Top Priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session

Our work in state government has never been more important. Far too many working-class and middle-class New Yorkers are struggling to make ends meet, and many have lost faith that government can help solve their problems.

As lawmakers working in Albany, it’s on us to take action. With a new legislative session starting, I’m focused on delivering for our community and fighting to make New York safer, fairer and more affordable for everyone. With that in mind, here are my top priorities this year in Albany:

Expand the family safety net: Ask any New Yorker, and they’ll tell you — housing, groceries, school supplies — it’s all just way too expensive. Families with kids, in particular, are feeling the pain; one in four New York City kids is living in poverty, and the child poverty rate in New York State is the 4th highest nationwide. At the same time, rising costs are driving families to leave New York City. As the father of two young boys, I know how difficult it can be.

That’s why I’ve proposed the Working Families Tax Credit would provide families up to $1,600 per child, close loopholes in the existing child tax credit and grow with inflation. For example, a family of four making $80k a year would receive nearly $3,200 under my proposal, up from $660 under current policy. That’s money to pay for essentials like groceries, clothes and rent. I’ve also introduced legislation to exempt school supplies from sales tax during the lead-up to each new school year, so new backpacks, notebooks and other supplies are more affordable.

Pursue universal child care and afterschool: The cost of child care is crushing too many families. We won billions in investment in child care two years ago, but it’s time to go further and ensure every family has access to free universal child care. We also desperately need to expand access to afterschool programs, many of which the state inexplicably and infuriatingly defunded last year, leaving Brooklyn families hanging.

Create more affordable housing: Everywhere you look, New Yorkers are struggling to afford housing. Last year, we passed significant measures to make it easier to build affordable housing and establish Good Cause Eviction Protections for tenants. But to solve this crisis, we need to do significantly more.

My Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act is one key step to get us there. My bill would enable trusted houses of worship to more easily build affordable housing that meets the needs of their communities. The housing will have to meet strict affordability standards while also giving houses of worship the financial stability to continue serving our communities.

In addition to doing more to create and preserve affordable housing, we also need to invest in our public housing stock to ensure NYCHA residents have safe, dignified homes. And it’s time to finally tackle the gross inequities of New York City’s property tax system to provide fairness and housing stability across the city.

Expand college access: New York should be a place where all families can put down roots and thrive. That means creating pathways for young people to access a high-quality, affordable college education. Last year, I secured major wins for students when the state implemented my proposal to ensure universal FAFSA access for all high school seniors, passed a state budget that doubled the minimum award for the Tuition Assistance Program and secured millions in funding for SUNY and CUNY.

But there’s more to do. For years, legacy admissions preferences have given the family of alumni an unfair advantage, creating an “affirmative action for the rich” that shuts the door on first-generation college students. My Fair College Admissions Act would finally ban this policy, following the lead of states like Colorado and ensuring all students have a fair shot. It’s also time to pass my New Deal for CUNY, which would make college tuition-free, hire more professors, make essential building repairs and ensure CUNY continues to be a pathway to the middle class.

Create safer streets: Traveling on our streets shouldn’t mean putting your life at risk. Smart regulations, well-designed streets and investments in transit can make it safer and easier for New Yorkers to get to school, work, and all the places they need to go. Last year, we finally passed Sammy’s Law, which gave New York City the power to set safer speed limits near schools, senior centers and dangerous intersections. I also passed legislation to quadruple the number of life-saving red light cameras across the city, and new laws to crack down on defaced license plates to hold rule breakers accountable.

Still, too many New Yorkers are dying on our streets. That’s why I’ve proposed a bill to require “speed limiter” devices to be installed on the worst serial speeders’ vehicles, preventing them from going more than 5 mph over the speed limit. I’ve also introduced legislation to require the DMV to create a pedestrian safety rating system for all vehicles registered in New York.

Expand transportation options: Whether they live in cities like Brooklyn and Buffalo, the suburbs of Long Island, or the rural Adirondacks, all New Yorkers deserve safe, reliable options to get around. My legislation sets a bold but achievable target to reduce the total annual vehicle miles traveled in New York by 20% by 2050. We’ll do that by investing in more frequent public transit, more accessible streets for walking and biking, new greenway trails and more.

One study found my approach could save New York families an average of $3,750 in fuel, car maintenance and depreciation; prevent nearly 5,000 deaths per year in reduced crashes, improved air quality and increased physical activity; and eliminate 227 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

Ensure the subway is safe and accessible: The subway is the lifeblood of New York. Even though traveling by transit is still the safest, best way to get around, high-profile incidents understandably have many New Yorkers feeling uneasy. Everyone deserves to feel safe on the train. It’s time for us to have a renewed focus on subway safety, including by ensuring New Yorkers suffering from homelessness and mental illness get the support they need.

The start of congestion pricing also means we now have funding for long-overdue accessibility projects, including dozens of new elevators at subway stations. Since I was first elected in 2018, I’ve pushed for investments in more station elevators, which are crucial to ensure those with disabilities, the elderly, parents pushing strollers and many others can access the subway.

Protect kids online: Last year, I passed first-in-the-nation laws to protect kids from addictive algorithms and predatory data collection on social media. Now it’s time to take the next step to stop Big Tech from profiting at the expense of our kids’ safety.

Multiple investigations have found people using gaming and social media platforms to harm and abuse kids. In 2023, Roblox reported over 13,000 instances of child exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. My New York Children’s Online Safety Act would protect kids by requiring online platforms to turn off open chat functions and public profiles for users under 18, unless a parent switches them back on.

Protect survivors of abuse and harassment: Not only has the internet enabled new criminal behaviors like revenge porn and online stalking — it has altered the way we discover and define relationships. But our legal system hasn’t kept up with the times. That’s why I’ve introduced the Ceasing Repeated and Extremely Egregious Predatory Behavior Act (the CREEP Act) to protect victims of harassment in the era of cyberstalking, revenge porn, doxxing and deep fakes.

Victims of harassment and discrimination also frequently find themselves targets of defamation suits for filing complaints. These retaliatory tactics can force the victim to abandon their complaint or delay the investigation, and deter other victims from coming forward. I’ve proposed legislation that would protect victims of harassment and discrimination from frivolous libel or defamation suits.

Protect our immigrant neighbors: Protecting the rights and freedoms of all New Yorkers is key to ensuring public safety, and to building strong relationships between police and community that prevent violent crime. My New York for All legislation would not only protect our immigrant families from being torn apart; it would actually make all of us safer.

Local enforcement of immigration wastes resources and distracts police from investigating crimes and responding to emergencies. If people aren’t afraid to interact with local agencies, they’ll be more comfortable calling 911 for help in an emergency, which keeps us all safer. That’s why places across the US that have similar policies have lower crime rates than those that don’t, and why both immigrant advocates and national police organizations support my approach.

Have more ideas for issues my team and I should be working on? I want to hear from you. Share your thoughts, questions, and concerns with me via email at gounardes@nysenate.gov or call my office at 718–238–6044.