Senate upholds chair's ruling, blocks amendment to roll back all-electric building mandate

The New York State Senate on Feb. 24 upheld the presiding officer's ruling that an amendment seeking to roll back the all-electric buildings mandate was non-germane, ending an effort to require builders to use the 2020 energy code rather than the newly enacted 2025 code.

Senator Lanza rose to note an amendment at the desk and asked the chamber to recognize Senator Walzick, who appealed the chair's ruling. Senator Walzick argued the amendment "would repeal the costly all electric buildings mandate and would allow building developers to use the 2020 energy code instead of the more costly and newly enacted 2025 energy code," citing NYSERDA's cost analysis that he said showed higher costs under the 2025 code.

"This amendment is indeed germane to the bill in chief because the bill in chief deals with the state uniform fire prevention and building code, and the amendment deals with price of building in New York state," Walzick said, urging colleagues to "vote to overrule the chair, pass this amendment, and please allow New Yorkers to have the dream of owning an affordable home in New York state in the future."

The presiding officer put the question on the chair's ruling; senators were asked to signify by saying "aye." A show of hands was requested and the chair's ruling stood. The clerk announced "the ruling of the chair stands, and the bill in chief is before the house," and the Senate later restored the bill to the noncontroversial calendar and proceeded with the calendar reading.

Supporters of the amendment framed it as a response to housing affordability, asserting the 2025 energy code and the all-electric mandate would raise the cost of a typical single-family home by tens of thousands of dollars. The amendment's backers referenced a NYSERDA cost estimate, describing additional construction costs in the low end of the analysis. Opponents of the appeal did not introduce new factual claims in the transcript beyond procedural objections that the amendment was out of order.

The Senate did not adopt the amendment; the chair's ruling was sustained and the underlying calendar item remained on the docket.

What happens next: The bill remained on the calendar for consideration under its existing terms; proponents of a statutory change can pursue stand-alone legislation or seek to amend the underlying bill through a germane amendment in accord with Senate rules.