Albany – Following end-of-year negotiations with Governor Hochul and legislative leaders, Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi announced that four bills he had authored which passed both houses of the Legislature in 2025, have been signed into law.

The bills advance Assemblymember Hevesi’s core priorities of expanding access to child care, reforming child welfare systems that unnecessarily harm families, reducing wasteful use of government resources, and aligning state policy with deliverable, real outcomes for New Yorkers – priorities that will remain at the forefront of Hevesi’s agenda entering the 2026 legislative session.

The signing of A.66 – Assemblyman Hevesi’s bill to replace anonymous reporting to the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR) – comes as the largest reform to the SCR in decades, updating how reports are received so that this crucial system can no longer be misused to harass and target families with unfounded claims. This added accountability improves CPS’s ability to assess credibility at intake, deters knowingly false or retaliatory reports, and ensures investigative resources are focused on cases where children are genuinely at risk.

A.66 – Creating Confidential Reporting in New York

Each year, approximately 150,000 families are reported to New York’s Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR). While anonymous reports account for only about 7% of calls, they represent a disproportionate share of reports later deemed unfounded, subjecting an estimated 10,000 families annually to months-long investigations that ultimately clear them of wrongdoing.

A.66 replaces anonymous reporting with confidential reporting, allowing individuals to report concerns safely while requiring identifying information that remains protected from public disclosure. This reform improves CPS intake decisions, deters retaliatory and false reporting, and ensures investigative resources are focused on cases where children are genuinely at risk. The bill represents one of the most significant updates to SCR reporting in decades.

Signed into law on December 19, 2025.

A.612 – Ensuring Adequate Staffing Across New York’s Child Care System

A.612 updates the statutory framework governing how the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) sets and revises staff-to-child ratios for licensed childcare providers by removing a decades-old requirement that locked those ratios to regulations from 2000. The law restores OCFS’s ability to update ratios through regulation as conditions change, allowing statewide standards to better reflect New York City’s existing framework. This change helps providers safely expand capacity, increase infant and toddler care, and reduce waitlists – while maintaining strong health and safety standards.

Signed into law on December 19, 2025.

A.5434 – Ensuring Dignity for Youth in Foster Care

For too long, youth in foster care have been forced to transport their belongings in plastic trash bags – a practice widely criticized as degrading and harmful. A.5434 ends this practice by requiring appropriate luggage be provided to children entering or moving within the foster care system. By establishing a clear statewide standard, the law reinforces dignity, stability, and respect as core principles of New York’s child welfare system.

Signed into law on December 19, 2025.

A.8028 – Expanding Child Care Access Through Property Tax Relief

Building on a 2022 property tax abatement that helped create more than 3,500 childcare seats and delivered approximately $1 million in tax relief, A.8028 increases the abatement for properties located in childcare deserts. The law strengthens incentives for property owners to partner with providers to expand childcare capacity in communities where access is most limited.

Signed into law on December 5, 2025.

Assemblymember Hevesi, Chair, Committee on Children & Families said, “It has been encouraging to navigate the end-of-2025 negotiations with Governor Hochul and the legislature, and I believe this could be an indicator of how we’re planning to continue collaborating as we enter this year’s session.

“Looking back, I am particularly proud of A.66 – which reflects a years-long, coordinated, and sustained effort to solve a deeply technical problem that has created very real and long-lasting trauma for families in New York. Advocate partners, impacted families, my Senate counterpart Jabari Brisport, and Governor Hochul have been incredible grasping this issue, and helping us deliver the largest reform New York has made to its SCR in decades. This will now keep our systems focused on protecting children while avoiding unnecessary investigations that severely traumatize and destabilize families.

“A.5434 is a similarly crucial bill, making sure that children in foster care are provided with appropriate luggage to carry their belongings – which represent their core identity and everything that provides them with stability. And A.8028 and A.612 will further our goals of creating a sustainable and equitable childcare system – taking a surgical focus to ensure childcare providers are supported and able to offer the level of care that is currently needed amidst the challenges we are facing.

“Going forward, we’re continuing to prioritize bringing New York towards Universal Child Care – and ensuring this essential workforce is fairly compensated. My committee is also fighting to create real relief for families through tangible tax credits – while ensuring that others pay their fair share – and on further refocusing New York’s systems towards justice, equity, and accessible support. I am extremely grateful to enter again under the leadership of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and his team, and very much look forward to what we can accomplish together.”