Senate rules require leadership changes after 2026 (or new rules)

If State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins wants to remain leader of the senate in 2027 and beyond, the rules governing her chamber will need to change.

The rules for the current two-year cycle put an eight-year cap on the term of service for the “temporary president,” which is the official title empowering Stewart-Cousins to call the shots in the senate since 2019. The rules also restrict committee chairs to serving eight years consecutively, which would theoretically impact control of the education, health, wagering, investigations, finance and labor committees after 2026.

Asked about the prospects of shaking up leadership and committee chairs or rewriting the rules, the Westchester County Democrat told The Capitol Pressroom, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

But Stewart-Cousins was clear that she plans on being a part of that conversation, as she said she will be running for re-election in 2026.

Catch the full interview on Monday, Dec. 8.

Given the Democrats’ large control of the chamber and the political landscape in New York, they’re expected to retain a majority in the senate in 2027, so there would likely be few serious obstacles to rewriting the rules in a way that would allow the leadership and committee chairs to remain in place beyond 2026.

“Those are rules that we make, and you know, I’m sure we’ll discuss it,” Stewart-Cousins said.

The eight-year limits date back to the aftermath of the 2009 Senate Coup, with the caveat about consecutive years leading a committee added in 2011, according to Politico New York’s Bill Mahoney. In 2017, when Democrats were in the minority in the senate, Stewart-Cousins voted in favor of a bill imposing eight-year term limits for the leadership and committee chairs in both chambers.

A more immediate question for the leader and her conference is the leadership of the judiciary committee, with the incumbent chair leaving to become Manhattan Borough President. Stewart-Cousins said that seniority will be “extremely important” when determining the next chair, but stressed there are a number of factors to consider.

If the decision were based solely on attorneys with the longest tenure in the chamber, senators Shelley Mayer and Luis Sepulveda would be considered front runners, with the latter’s name coming up in conversations with Albany insiders. Depending on the importance of other factors, Sen. Andrew Gounardes is discussed as another possible contender.

The Senate Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business Committee will also be vacant at the start of 2026.