State Legislative Update
Just a week after work on the 2026-27 state budget concluded, today represents the final scheduled day of the 2026 state legislative session. While it seems likely that one or both houses will continue with session into tomorrow, the end of this year’s legislative work is nearly upon us.
NYSSBA Governmental Relations team has been intensely focused on pushing multiple priority bills through the legislature over these final days. Through emails, phone calls, support memos and a myriad of conversations in the halls of the Capitol, we have been pleased to help secure two-house passage of multiple bills just this week alone. The bills are reflective of, or are consistent with, official NYSSBA position statements. Those include:
- S.1986 (Harckham) / A.6318 (Griffin) – Would extend the maximum energy-performance contract term from 18 years to 25 years
- S.7150-B (Hinchey) / A.4384-B (Paulin) – Would align ballot deadlines for small city school district board elections with other school district election timelines
- S.8904-A (Mayer) / A.10673 (Woerner) – Would permit BOCES to lease buildings from public entities for up to 20 years, as compared to the current 10 year limit
- S.9367-A (Bailey) / A.10218-A (Woerner) – Would extend the small group health insurance consortium exception (51-100 employees) for an additional three years
- S.10075-A (Zellner) / A.11162-A (Solages) – Would extend the authority for school districts to engage in shared purchasing (commonly referred to as piggybacking) for an additional year
In addition, the following bills are poised for potential two-house passage today or tomorrow:
- S.194-D (Martinez) / A.5079-E (O’Pharrow) – Would establish specialized certification requirements for school security guards
- S.9272-A (Fernandez) / A.8814-A (McDonald) – Would require schools to stock opioid antagonists and direct NYS DOH to supply districts with sufficient amounts
2026 Resolutions and NYSSBA Position-Setting Process
The deadline to submit proposed resolutions and bylaw amendments for consideration during the 2026 Annual Business Meeting is now just 6 weeks away. All submissions must be received no later than 5pm on Friday, July 17 via email to advocacy@nyssba.org. You can find complete details for submission in the 2026 Resolution Kit that was released in April. The kit includes 2026 Resolution Survey results, key dates, a link to proposed resolution and bylaw amendment forms and other important information about NYSSBA's resolutions process.
The resolutions process is an important one, by which NYSSBA members set the advocacy positions and beliefs of the Association. All bylaw amendments and resolutions submitted by the deadline will be eligible for consideration at the 2026 NYSSBA Annual Business Meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, October 15 at 4pm. For questions related to the process or for additional information on crafting resolutions, please contact Danielle Grasso at danielle.grasso@nyssba.org.