No funeral-specific bills moved this week. That's not surprising -- and it's not bad news.
The New York State Budget is due April 1. For the next two weeks, the legislature is focused almost entirely on the budget. Standalone bills don't move during this window. The Health and Finance committees are occupied with budget negotiations, not bill hearings.
This matters because two of your most-watched bills sit directly in those committees:
What to expect: Once the budget passes (historically a few days to a few weeks late), committee attention returns to standalone legislation. April and May are when Albany actually moves bills. The spring session runs through June. If these bills are going to advance this year, the window opens in the next 4-6 weeks.
The one bill to watch closely: S7690. It cleared the Health Committee and made it to Finance -- that's further than most bills get. Once Finance turns its attention back to standalone legislation, that bill is positioned for a vote. Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) is the sponsor.
What to do:
1. If you have a relationship with your state senator, now is a good time to make contact before the spring push. Bills that have sponsor outreach behind them move faster.
2. Pull your current price lists and make sure they're FTC-compliant. Inspection activity doesn't pause for budget season.
3. Mark your calendar for late April -- that's when the next wave of committee action is likely.
| Bill | Title | Status | Committee | Last Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S9112 | Licensed Funeral Arranger Act | In Senate Committee | Health | Referred to Health (Feb 3) |
| A10095 | Licensed Funeral Arranger Act (Assembly) | In Assembly Committee | Health | Referred to Health (Jan 30) |
| S8152 | 4-Year Apprenticeship (Senate) | STRICKEN | -- | Enacting clause stricken (Jun 9, 2025) |
| A5172 | 4-Year Apprenticeship (Assembly) | In Assembly Committee | Health | Referred to Health (Jan 7) |
| A7630 | Residency Overhaul (Assembly) | In Assembly Committee | Health | Referred to Health (Jan 7) |
| S7690 | Residency Overhaul (Senate) | In Senate Committee | Finance | Reported and committed to Finance (Feb 24) |
Reminder on S8152: The Senate apprenticeship bill is dead. S8152 had its enacting clause stricken in June 2025 and cannot become law in current form. The Assembly version, A5172 (sponsored by Marianne Buttenschon), is still active. If you care about the apprenticeship pathway, A5172 is the bill to follow.
The Federal Register posted a Notice of Inventory Completion from S'edav Va'aki Museum in Phoenix, AZ (March 27, 2026) related to cremated human remains. This is a NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) notice -- it concerns a museum returning ancestral remains and is not a regulatory change affecting NY funeral homes.
We monitor cremation-related Federal Register items as part of our standard sweep. This one does not require action on your part.
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