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NYSCA Lobbying Center

Scope Modernization Bill - A4706 (Clark) | S5860 (Goundares)
The Title VIII Coalition Partnership Bill - A2588 (Peoples-Stokes) | S3350 (Scarcella-Spanton)
Retrospective Audit Look Back Bill - A3365 (Lavine) | S5209 (Scarcella-Spanton)
Credit Card Bill - A3986 (Bores) | S2105 (Cooney)

Fall 2025 Legislative Update

Election Day was Tuesday, November 4. Since it is an odd-numbered year, most races on the ballot were for local elections. The most watched election was the New York City mayoral race, which drew national attention, after Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani resoundingly winning the Democratic primary in June making him the presumptive frontrunner for the General Election. As has been historically true in New York City the winner of the Primary Election was the winner of the General Election. Assemblymember Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa with over 50% of the vote.

The four major Upstate cities also had mayoral elections. Going from East to West, Democratic Albany City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs defeated Republican candidate Rocco Pezzulo, after current mayor Kathy Sheehan, who was first elected in 2013, chose not to seek reelection. In Syracuse, Mayor Ben Walsh was term-limited, and his deputy mayor, Democrat Sharon Owens, defeated Republican Thomas Babilon, a former City Hall lawyer, and independents Timothy Rudd and Alfonso Davis. In Rochester, incumbent Democratic mayor Malik Evans won his second term against Louis Sabo, who ran on the Conservative Party line. Finally, in Buffalo, Democratic Senator Sean Ryan defeated Republican Erie County Assistant District Attorney James Gardner and independent candidate Michael Gainer.

There was also a proposed amendment to the State Constitution on the ballot related to allowing for recreational activities on State-owned Adirondack Forest preserve land at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex in Essex County. The vote was close but was approved and will retroactively legalize the expansion of the Olympic sports complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg. It will also require the State to acquire 2,500 acres of land to add to the Adirondack Forest preserve.

The end of this year’s election means our attention turns to the 2026 elections, with the Primary Election happening on June 23, 2026 and the General Election happening on November 3, 2026. The 2026 elections will see all four statewide elected officials (the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller) up for election as well as all 213 members of the New York State Senate and Assembly, and all 26 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be on the ballot.

The end of the election’s also mean that we turn in earnest to the next legislative session, which will begin on January 7, 2026, with the Governor’s State of the State address. In advance of the next session, we have been hard at work on our legislative priorities. The scope modernization bill sponsored by Assemblymember Sarah Clark and Senator Andrew Goundardes (A4706-B/S5860-B) remains our main legislative priority. We have continued to have conversations with the New York State Assembly and Senate to help to ensure that the bill will pass both houses in the next session. As a reminder, we passed the Senate this session. We have been talking with the Assembly on some minor technical issues they have raised. We’re hoping that with a few more small changes; we can get this bill passed in both houses next session and sent to the Governor for her review.

Next session, we will also be working to support and advance two of our other legislative priorities. The first is the look back audit bill sponsored by Assemblymember Charles Lavine and Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (A3365/S5209), which would limit the time period for lookback audits by insurance companies. The second is the partnership bill sponsored by Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (A2588/S3350), which would allow healthcare providers to form business partnerships with each other and medical doctors. For both bills, we are working with a broad coalition of other healthcare providers in New York as both bills will benefit many licensed professionals in New York.

We had a fourth legislative priority that we worked on this year that we also worked with a coalition of providers on that we are hoping will be signed into law before year end. The virtual credit card bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Alex Bores and Senator Jeremy Cooney (A3986/S2105), which requires that any insurer that uses a credit card, virtual credit card, or electronic funds to pay a provider's claim for reimbursement to notify the provider in advance if there is a fee to process the payment and provide an alternative payment method that does not impose a fee passed both houses at the end of this legislative session. We are waiting for the bill to be sent to the Governor for her review. The bill must be sent before the end of the year. We have drafted a letter of support and have relayed our support to the Governor’s office. We are hopeful that she will sign the bill into law. We will keep you updated on the outcome.

The next State Board of Chiropractic meeting will be held on Thursday, January 15, 2026. We will share an update with the board, and all those in attendance at the meeting, about our legislative efforts and our progress on the scope modernization bill.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to any member of the Legislative Committee or NYSCA leadership.