Governor Hochul Unveils Proposals to Protect Consumers and Workers

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a series of proposals to protect consumers and workers as part of her 2026 State of the State. Under the Governor’s leadership, New York leads the nation in protecting young people online, putting common sense safeguards around AI, algorithms, and other technical advances that can have unintended consequences. Governor Hochul will build on this work by strengthening data privacy protections, fighting workers’ compensation fraud, ensuring transparency in AI interactions and increasing consumer awareness around student loans. She will also announce a new, first-of-its-kind office to oversee digital safety and technological governance, ensuring New York has the strategic leadership and resources needed to pioneer new approaches while protecting the rights of our residents.

“New Yorkers should be able to trust technology and safely interact with tools that work for, not against them,” Governor Hochul said. “That’s why as part of my 2026 State of the State, we’re building on our promise to protect New Yorkers’ private data, putting money back into the pockets of workers, and fighting for employees and students statewide. Hardworking New Yorkers should not be taken advantage of by bad actors online, in the workplace, or anywhere else, and these proposals will enhance safeguards for workers and consumers alike.”

Protecting Consumers and Workers Across Platforms

Creating a New Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity & Trust (DIGIT)

Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, New York has led the nation in embracing the opportunities of emerging technology while also taking novel action to protect New Yorkers from potential harms. The Governor has passed multiple first-in-the-nation laws to keep kids safe on social media, regulate frontier AI model developers, stop AI companion chatbots from encouraging suicide and self-harm, outlaw AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and bring transparency to AI-enabled corporate pricing practices. As our digital ecosystem continues to rapidly evolve, and in absence of action by the federal government, Governor Hochul will ensure New York continues to pioneer new approaches to protecting consumers, voters, and our youth.

Building on New York’s role as a national leader in AI regulation and online safety, Governor Hochul will create a first-of-its kind Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust (DIGIT). DIGIT will serve as a central, authoritative body for digital safety and technological governance, devising new approaches and ensuring consistent enforcement to keep New Yorkers safe online; while protecting New York’s position as a state that values and invests in cutting edge innovation.

Protecting New Yorkers’ Private Data

The data broker industry is a multi-billion dollar business that operates largely in the shadows, collecting and selling vast amounts of personal information. An average data broker may have over 1,000 data points about a single individual, with major data broker companies collecting over 10,000 unique data points per person. This information is then sold, primarily to marketers and financial institutions — although predatory loan companies and criminal scammers have also been known to purchase it.

To date, this market has been unregulated within New York State, allowing it to operate without clear rules of the road that prioritize consumer privacy and control. Governor Hochul will rein in these brokers, significantly restricting their ability to retain New Yorkers’ personal information. Specifically, she will advance legislation to require all data brokers operating in New York State to register with the State as data brokers, and to allow New Yorkers to submit a single, centralized request to have certain categories of personal data obtained by data brokers, deleted.

Requiring Labeling for AI-Generated Content

AI deepfakes are rapidly eroding public trust by fueling the spread of disinformation, enabling scams, manipulating voters, and harming reputations. With a few clicks, anyone can create convincing audio, video, or images that mimic real people and situations, making people more likely to believe fake news stories or fall for scams. The increasing prevalence of these digitally manipulated or manufactured audio-visual content threatens to erode public trust and even society’s shared sense of a common reality.

Governor Hochul will tackle the issue of misleading AI deepfakes by advancing legislation that requires AI-generated content to include labeling about its origins and creation, Called “provenance data,” this information may be used like a digital nutrition label, allowing people to better understand more about where content comes from — as well as what might be real and what’s not.

Protecting Elections from Misleading or Deceptive AI Content

With the rise of artificial intelligence, algorithmic social media, and other new technologies, it’s easier than ever to spread misinformation about elections. Deepfakes and false AI-generated content pose a particular threat to fair elections, with misleading and deceptive content being deployed explicitly to sway people’s votes. In 2024 alone, fraudsters used AI to create fake expletive-laden “recordings” of one New York politician while depicting another in a prison jumpsuit. That same year, thousands of New Hampshire residents received calls from an AI-generated “politician” asking them to skip voting in an upcoming primary election. In 2020, 5,500 New Yorkers received a robocall falsely claiming that mail-in voting would result in their information being sent to law enforcement and credit collectors.

Manipulating elections threatens our democracy. The State already requires campaigns to disclose when they use AI in close proximity to an election, but those requirements do not extend beyond the content campaigns generate themselves. To go a step further to protect voters from manipulative AI content, Governor Hochul will advance legislation to ban non-consensual deepfakes in specified periods leading up to elections, including depictions of opposition candidates.

In addition, Governor Hochul will advance legislation to ban sharing false information about elections, including where and when they are held, qualifications or restrictions on voter eligibility, and an individual’s voter registration status or eligibility.

Prohibiting Misleading “Discounts” in Online Sales

When a consumer comes across an advertised ‘sale’ or ‘discount’ they have every expectation of saving some of their hard-earned money at check out. However, there have been documented instances of retailers that raise original prices just before sales begin so they can display outsized “markdowns,” misleading consumers — and often not saving them money at all.

New Yorkers have the right to know that a discount means a discount. The Governor will crack down on misleading practices by advancing legislation codifying existing federal rules that require discounts to be “bona fide” or genuine. As a result, New York consumers can be assured that they are actually saving when an item is on sale.

Ending Taxes on Tips for Hardworking New Yorkers

Tipped workers — New York’s bartenders, servers, and deliveristas — are the backbone of the state’s service economy. In jobs that demand long hours and daily dedication, every dollar is hard-won. Governor Hochul is committed to making sure these workers can hold on to more of what they earn.

To that end, Governor Hochul will advance legislation eliminating state income taxes on up to $25,000 of tipped income in tax year 2026, consistent with federal tax guidance. This proposal will deliver meaningful relief to tipped workers, strengthening their economic security and better valuing their contributions to our economy.

Fighting Workers’ Compensation Fraud

Workers’ compensation fraud is a pernicious criminal activity that increases costs for businesses and insurers, affecting employers’ decisions when it comes to other costs like employee wages and benefits. The Workers’ Compensation Board provides annual funding to the Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General (WCFIG) to investigate fraud. However, WCFIG’s referrals to law enforcement often go unprosecuted because district attorneys lack the funding and staff to establish dedicated workers’ compensation fraud units.

To combat instances of workers’ compensation fraud, Governor Hochul will advance legislation that allows the Workers’ Compensation Board to use employer assessments to administer a grant program for district attorneys to establish and staff dedicated workers’ compensation fraud units. This funding will ensure they have the necessary resources to investigate and prosecute these crimes, ultimately protecting honest workers and helping to reduce costs for businesses across New York State.

Combating Wage Theft

An honest day's work deserves an honest day's pay, and employers that cheat New Yorkers out of their hard-earned wages must be held accountable. Wage theft includes failure to pay at the minimum wage, not paying out mandated overtime, stealing tips, misclassifying workers, and other violations. Governor Hochul has taken a stand against this activity by classifying wage theft as a larceny in penal law and providing the Department of Labor new lien and levy powers to help recover stolen wages on behalf of workers.

This year, Governor Hochul will direct new funding for a grant program administered by the Department of Labor to support district attorneys in smaller, rural jurisdictions to take on new criminal wage theft investigations, further solidifying New York State’s commitment to protecting workers’ rights.

Improving Disclosures for Student Loan Refinancing

Refinancing of student loans is common in New York, with New Yorkers refinancing a total of $3.27 billion in student loans as of the end of 2024. Current laws require private lenders to disclose details like interest rates and fees, but not other critical information regarding student benefits: that moving from public to private loans can mean losing student-facing benefits like loan forgiveness or income-based payment.

To ensure students can make informed decisions about their loans, Governor Hochul is proposing legislation requiring lenders to provide clear notices to borrowers about the pros and cons of refinancing. In doing so, she will help students choose repayment paths that best secure their financial future.

Setting Cosigner Standards for Student Loans

People with low or no credit, especially students, often need cosigners to help them secure private student loans. Since student loans can take decades to repay, cosigners can remain liable for someone else’s debt for years or even decades after origination.

Governor Hochul is proposing legislation creating a standard release process for private student loan cosigners, and requiring lenders and servicers to disclose these conditions to borrowers. In addition, she will allow cosigners to be released from their loans after the borrower has made a reasonable number of on-time payments.

Enhancing Illegal Vape Enforcement

Despite being banned and lacking Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval, flavored vapor products are still being sold throughout New York State. Estimates suggest that as many as 99 percent of current vapor product sales are flavored, and therefore illegal. To help halt this trend and the harmful effects flavored vapes have, Governor Hochul will direct New York's Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) to create a Vapor Products registry that identifies the only vapor products that may be legally sold in the State, with prohibited flavored products deemed contraband. These actions will minimize and prevent the illegal and dangerous sale of harmful vape products to New Yorkers.