This year, my office received hundreds of calls and emails from people who are concerned that data centers pose real threats to electricity rates, strain water resources, and hurt the environment. That's why the New York Senate took action by passing legislation (S10642) that I co-sponsored to enact a one year pause on data center construction so that we have time to study potential impacts and put measures in place to protect New Yorkers from harm. The legislation also passed the Assembly and now it’s in the hands of the Governor. 

This moratorium would complement several key investments we made in the FY27 State Budget: $1 billion in funding for key climate initiatives in the Sustainable Futures Fund, $750 million statewide Clean Water Funding funding, with a commitment to spend $3.75 billion over the next five years, and the adoption of ASAP Solar that reforms the interconnection process to make it faster and cheaper to bring new solar projects online.

I am also proud to have championed a much-needed 24% increase in municipal funding for the City of Rochester, totaling $123.2 million.

Here are a few other highlights from the final state budget and the 2026 legislative session:

Children and Families: 

Improve Access to Maternal Care, Childcare and Preschool:

• $250,000 for the Community Doula Expansion Fund for the training and certification of community-based doulas who provide culturally sensitive pregnancy and childbirth education and support to pregnant people. (NOTE! There are now more than 400 Medicaid community doulas in NY, including almost 50 here in Monroe County)
• Brouk bill S8622: To increase the amount of information we have regarding the respectful integration of doula services into birthing delivery teams and healthcare facilities by developing metrics for more formally designating “Doula Friendly Spaces.” (Passed Senate and Assembly)
• Brouk Bill S7544A: Establishes the cesarean births review board (Passed Senate and Assembly)
• Maternal Health, Dignity, and Consent Act: Prohibits drug testing of pregnant or postpartum individuals without informed consent (Passed Senate)
• $1.75 million statewide for National Diaper Banks, an increase of $250,000
• $20 million for child care pilots in Monroe county to explore effective program models for infant and toddler care
• Brouk bill S9602: Changes to child care provider registration and training to reduce administrative burdens and compliance costs for child care programs in order to expand the availability  of child care for families. (Signed into law)
• Brouk bill S9728: Change to require one caregiver for every two children under 18 months of age in family day care homes (Passed Senate and Assembly)
• Increase UPK funding statewide by $561 million, or 52.5 percent, totaling $1.6 billion and requires school districts to provide programming to all eligible 4-year-olds by the 2028-29 school year, advancing New York further along the path to full UPK
   

Support Public Schools and College Programs:

• Historic increase in K-12 school funding with an increase in Foundation Aid, including a 2% minimum increase, enhanced support for English Language Learners, and new funding weights for students experiencing homelessness and students in foster care.
  • That translates to $18m increase in school funding for SD-55 and a $21 million increase in School Aid for SD-55
• Delayed the Electric Vehicle Bus Mandate by 5 years to give schools time to make this important transition in a practical and fiscally responsible way.
• Tier 6 Reform will lower the retirement age for teachers with 30 years of service from 63 to 58.
• $17.5 million to expand the Teen Mental Health First Aid Training program to all tenth-grade students statewide
• $200,000 for University of Rochester’s Sources of Strength suicide prevention program
• Expands funding for the “New York Opportunity Promise Scholarship” offered at SUNY schools like Monroe Community College. Also adds operating support funding for community colleges.
• Brouk bill S378: Improves access to higher education funding opportunities for foster youth (Passed Senate)
   

Mental Health and Healthcare: 

• $400 million (up to $800 million gross) for hospitals:
• $353 million (up to $706 million gross) rate increase
• $47 million (up to $94 million gross) 10 percent capital rate increase.
• $240 million (up to $480 million gross) for nursing homes. 
• $120 million allocation as per diem, providing $316 million total.
• $120 million allocation for rate increases.
• $10 million for maternal health funding
• $8 million total for the Daniel’s Law Pilot Program, centering on peer-led, non-police responses for New Yorkers experiencing mental health or substance use crises. 
• 2.7% Temporary Inflation Increase: Adds $104 million for a Targeted Inflationary Increase for certain “O” agency providers, increasing the total TII to 2.7% over the Executive’s 1.7%.
• The Senate added $350,000 total for the Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative
• $8,023,600 total to the Dwyer Veteran Peer to Peer Services Program, including $192,400 to Monroe County
• Prior Authorization Reforms: Prohibits insurers from conducting more than one utilization review a year against people with chronic conditions..It also extends the continuity of care period from 60 to 90 days for all conditions and requires that it continue through pregnancy and for one year postpartum.
• Brouk Bill S8426A: Prevents discrimination by insurers based on an individual's mental health or substance use disorder (Passed Senate)
• Brouk Bill S6025: Allows Licensed Creative Arts Therapists (LCATs) to bill Medicaid for delivering outpatient services. This bill would improve access to life changing creative arts therapy and help address the mental health care provider shortage in our state (Passed Senate)
• Brouk Bill S998: Allows telemedicine services for mental and behavioral health issues under the workers' compensation system (Passed Senate and Assembly)
   

Helping Families Save Money

• $10 million statewide for the First Time Homebuyer Downpayment Assistance Fund.
• Eliminating New York State income tax on up to $25,000 in tipped income beginning in 2026, allowing workers to deduct eligible cash tips from taxable income and putting money back in New Yorkers’ pockets.
• $138 million statewide for Emergency Hunger Response organizations, an increase of
• $25 million from last year, which includes $72.8 million for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) and $55 million for Nourish New York (NNY).
• Brouk Bill S7978A: Enhances the statutory authority of the Council on Children and Families (CCF) to better serve children with complex behavioral health needs that are receiving services from multiple state agencies. (Passed Senate and Assembly)
• Brouk Bill S985A: To promote good oral health habits and wellness by conferring a tax exemption on the sale of certain oral hygiene products.$375,000 for Lifespan of Greater Rochester + $250,000 for Lifespan’s Elder Abuse Prevention program
   

Protecting Our Immigrant Neighbors:

• Prohibits local, state, or federal law enforcement officers from wearing a mask while interacting with the public and requiring an officer to be clearly identified by name or the badge number on their uniform.
• Empowers childcare providers, healthcare facilities, houses of worship, housing accommodations, non-public schools, certain state-sponsored private schools, higher education institutions, nursery schools, summer camps, senior centers, parks, playgrounds, athletic fields or recreation centers, and polling places to adopt policies denying immigration enforcement officials access to non-public areas without a warrant.
• Fully bans formal and informal 287(g) agreements and IGSAs exclusively for immigration purposes, prohibiting counties and municipalities from entering into future contracts and dissolving existing ones.
• Provides an additional $10 million for the Office of New Americans, for a total of $74.2 million.
   

Consumer Protections and Fairness:

• Banning surveillance pricing (S8623A) when companies use a consumer’s personal data to set individualized prices in real time. The bill would bar companies from offering different prices to consumers based on their purchasing history or online activity. (Passed Senate and Assembly) This follows the passage of a 2025 law that required businesses to disclose when they use algorithmic pricing.
• Five-year moratorium on the sale of chatbot/AI toys for small children (S.9408A) while an interagency task force comprised of the NY Department of State, the Office of Mental Health, the New York State Attorney General, and the Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust studies the potential risks they pose.(Passed Senate and Assembly)
• Brouk Bill (S10092): “No Gambling for Kids” Act” prohibits social media and gaming platforms from advertising a service permitting gaming-related gambling, predictive market wagering, online sweepstakes gaming, sports-related gambling, and/or traditional online gambling to minors. (Passed Senate)
• Brouk Bill S985A: Eliminates sales tax on certain oral hygiene products (Passed Senate)
• $123.2 million total for the City of Rochester, an increase of 24 percent to right historic underfunding of our City.
• Brouk bill S1012A policy included in final state budget - Explicitly prohibits the recovery of lobbying, political, and public relations expenses from ratepayers.
• $1 billion in POWER Rebates: Provides rebate checks of up to $200 for married filers earning up to $150,000, $150 for married filers earning between $150,000 and $300,000, and $100 for single filers and heads of household earning up to $150,000.
• Requires utilities to return more excess revenue earned back to ratepayers, and ensures that ratepayers receive the excess revenues earlier on.
• Requires utility companies to file budget-constrained proposals with the PSC that would limit potential utility rate increases to the rate of inflation, subject to limited exceptions like safety, reliability, and critical upgrades
• Requires utility-proposed infrastructure projects to meet higher standards in order to be approved so as to protect ratepayers from paying for cost-inflated projects.
• Ensures that if the Public Service Commission rejects a utility’s proposed rate hike, utility companies will not automatically receive the increase simply because no alternative plan was approved
• $2.75 million for the Public Utility Law Project (PULP), which advocates for lower energy rates
• $150 million for EmPower Plus, helping low- and moderate-income households lower their energy bills and make critical energy-efficient upgrades to their homes
• $40 million for the Weatherization Assistance Program, to help homeowners get needed upgrades to lower their utility bills
• Brouk Bill S1015: Protects seniors by prohibiting an individual convicted of a crime involving elder abuse from inheriting from the elder's estate as a distributee. (Passed Senate)
• Brouk Bill S1728A: Protects personal information by limiting access to the court records in Guardianship proceedings (Passed Senate and Assembly)
• Brouk Bill S1714A: Prohibits the use of the term "excited delirium" as a diagnosis, label, or cause of death (Passed Senate)
• Brouk Bill S1004B: Ensures that restoration services are used in ways that that those who need more care get the care they need (Passed Senate and Assembly)