Dear Neighbor,

Another summer is coming to an end too soon! In addition to some cooler weather, that means back-to-school time for many of our littler neighbors and their families. For all those returning to school this fall (whether it's grade-school, college, post-grad, or lifelong learners), I hope you find it meaningful, inspiring, and fun! Click here for back-to-school info from the DOE.

Below you will find governmental updates from the past month, recent actions by the Trump Administration impacting New Yorkers, and upcoming events and other useful information affecting our district.

As always, if you have any questions or need assistance, please email or call my office at lkrueger@nysenate.gov or 212-490-9535. If you are not already subscribed to my email list, click here to join.

Liz Krueger

State Senator

What's In This Newsletter?

Updates From My Office:

• Senator Krueger Joins 60 Lawmakers Urging Governor Hochul to Sign Data Center Bill
• Senator Krueger Submits Letters to the Department of Financial Services Opposing Proposed ACA and Medigap Premium Rate Increases for 2027
• Two Virtual Town Halls About Free and Fair Elections
• NYC Council Oversight Hearing on NYC's Response to the Legionnaires' Disease Cluster
• Respiratory Virus Season and Staying Healthy
• Update on Trump Administration Impacts

Community Updates, Event, and Opportunities:

• School Vaccination Requirements
• DOROT Rosh Hashanah Package Delivery
• Theatrical Event at Four Freedoms Park
• Medical Aid in Dying Forum
• Submissions for Community Board 8 Art Show
• Gracie Square Art Show
• Tapestry of New York

Senator Krueger Joins 60 Lawmakers Urging Governor Hochul to Sign Data Center Bill

Recently, I joined 60 of my Senate and Assembly colleagues on a letter to Governor Hochul calling on her to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which passed the Legislature in June with bipartisan support.

Last month, Governor Hochul issued an Executive Order implementing a one-year moratorium on the issuance of any permits or other agency actions by the Department of Environmental Conservation for the construction of new large-scale data centers.

The governor's executive order is a good first step - now it is critical to ensure real and rigorous protections are put in place to safeguard energy affordability and the health of our air, water, land, and people, which should include signing the bill passed by the Legislature.

Senator Krueger Submits Letters to the Department of Financial Services Opposing Proposed ACA and Medigap Premium Rate Increases for 2027

Each year, insurance carriers that offer QHP health insurance plans through the New York State Marketplace, as well as insurance providers that offer Medicare Supplemental Plans (a.k.a. Medigap Plans) to New Yorkers, request premium rate increases due to rising health care costs and other factors.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) is responsible for evaluating carriers' rate increase requests to assess whether they are unreasonable, excessive, or unfairly discriminatory and for approving final premium rates for the upcoming year. This process involves reviewing carrier rate applications, along with the associated actuarial data, and considering public comments submitted by policy holders.

This year, many QHP and Medigap insurance providers requested excessive and unreasonable premium rate increases for 2027 that would simply be unaffordable for many New Yorkers, and that would jeopardize access to critical health insurance coverage.

QHP carriers are seeking a weighted average premium increase of 20.7%. Medigap carriers are requesting a weighted average increase of 9.5% for individual plans, with most carriers that serve New York City requesting a weighted average increase of 11%-21.3%, and a weighted average rate increase of 12.2% for group plans, with the carriers that serve New York City requesting a weighted average of 12%-25.1%.

I am very pleased that many of my constituents submitted public comments to DFS expressing their concerns about these egregious requested rate increases. I have submitted letters to the DFS Superintendent, urging the agency to reject the proposed QHP and Medigap premium rate increases and to approve the lowest-possible rate increases instead. I also joined my colleagues in the Senate and Assembly in signing onto a letter regarding the QHP rate increase requests. To view these letters, please click here, here, and here.

Two Virtual Town Halls About

Free and Fair Elections

Voting is a fundamental right of American citizenship. We the people choose our leaders and elections allow us to keep our elected officials accountable - that’s how our democracy works. In preparation for the upcoming midterm elections, hear from two experts from the Brennan Center for Justice about how we can make sure our elections are secure and our votes are counted, and how we address the impact of corporate money on free and fair elections in the future.



Election Security: What’s the State of Play?

Thursday, September 24th 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Derek Tisler, from the Brennan Center for Justice, will discuss current election security plans for the midterms, with up-to-date strategies being employed to keep our vote safe in the 2026 election season.

Presenter:

• Derek Tisler, Counsel and Manager, Elections and Government, The Brennan Center for Justice

The Role of Big Money in Politics?

Tuesday, September 29th 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Is big corporate money subverting our elections? Marina Pino, from the Brennan Center, will present on the impact of uncontrolled spending in our elections and what changes should be made to campaign finance laws and regulations to ensure we the people actually decide who we are governed by.

Presenter:

• Maria Pino, Counsel, Elections and Government, Brennan Center for Justice

In addition to attending these events on Zoom, you will also have the option to view online through Facebook. Please note that you do not need a Facebook account to view the event through Facebook. 

If you do not have access to a computer, tablet, or other electronic device, you can listen in by telephone. 

**If you register, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link and the call-in information.** 

Each event will feature a question-and-answer session with the presenter, moderated by Senator Krueger. If you have questions about the security issues related to the November 2026 midterms, what New York State is doing to protect voting, and what you can do to safeguard our voting rights, please join us on Thursday, September 24th and Tuesday, September 29th. You will be able to submit questions during the event but are strongly encouraged to submit them in advance.

The events will be recorded and available online approximately one week afterwards. Links to the recordings and resources will be emailed to everyone who RSVPs.

NYC Council Oversight Hearing on NYC's Response to the Legionnaires' Disease Cluster

The New York City Council is holding an oversight hearing on Wednesday, September 2nd at 10 a.m. on New York City's response to the 2026 Legionnaires' disease cluster on the Upper East Side. The hearing will be held in-person in Council Chambers and can also be viewed online at: council.nyc.gov/ - select the "City Hall/Council Chambers" stream.

If you are interested in providing testimony, members of the public can sign up to testify via Zoom Web, Zoom Phone, or in-person. Written testimony may be submitted up to 72 hours after the hearing has been adjourned.

Respiratory Virus Season and Staying Healthy

Now that the end of summer is upon us, we are entering the season of colds and other viruses, including COVID-19, flu, and RSV. Public health experts report that there has been a large increase in people coming down with a case of the common cold, as well as an increase in Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.

It is an important reminder to get tested for COVID-19 if you experience respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms, and remember to get plenty of rest and stay hydrated.

In New York State, the areas with the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rates include New York City, Long Island, the Mid-Hudson area, and Central New York, with older adults age 65+ having the highest hospitalization rates. The highest numbers of emergency department visits are for newborns to 4-year-olds. Fortunately, present hospitalization rates due to the Coronavirus are significantly lower than at this time last year, but continue to increase.

This is also a good time for individuals and families to think about what vaccines they need. Dr. Katelyn Jetelina and Edward Nirenberg have shared a helpful resource: Your guide to fall 2026 vaccines, which outlines what you need to know about COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccinations. A flyer on school vaccinations is provided below. I encourage you to remain up-to-date on all of these vaccines to help stay healthy!

As a friendly reminder, frequent hand washing and wearing a high-quality mask when around large groups of people or inside public spaces also help to prevent getting sick.

Many thanks to Your Local Epidemiologist's Dr. Katelyn Jetelina and Your Local Epidemiologist New York's Dr. Marisa Donnelly for the important public health updates they provide! You can follow their reporting on Substack.

Update on Trump Administration Impacts

Below is a small sample of actions the Trump Administration has taken this past month that negatively impact New Yorkers. Click on the links for more details:

• The US Department of Health and Human Services has canceled 53 of 67 federal grants for preventing teen pregnancy, including $4.3 million in grants providing services to 19,000 New Yorkers in NYC and other communities across the state. The Department said programs receiving grants must promote abstinence, marriage, and fertility protection. A group of program grantees sued and on August 19th, a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia blocked the Trump Administration's gross overhaul of the Teen Pregnancy Program while legal proceedings continue. 

• The combination of federal cuts to federal Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicaid are expected to result in 14 million Americans losing their health insurance in the coming years, the equivalent of about half of the progress in coverage achieved by the ACA.

• President Trump has blundered the country into a significant trade war with Canada. After the trade negotiations fell apart, the president announced he would double the tariffs on automobiles and related good that he introduced early in his second term; Canada responded by announcing large tariffs on a host of goods from the United States. All these unnecessary trade restrictions will lead to an increase in prices on many goods, including toilet paper, and are likely, among other impacts, to further damage the tourism industry in NYC.

• President Trump is being sued over the sale of early access to “market-moving” Truth Social posts for the exorbitant price of $100,000 per month. The plaintiffs in the suit allege that this move constitutes blatant corruption, and that there is no legal explanation for the president to profit from selling government information to members of the public for any amount of money, let alone $100,000.

• The federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing New York and eight other states in an effort to protect prediction markets like Kalshi from having to pay New York's online sports betting tax, after the state sued Kalshi to enforce the law. Donald Trump Jr. is an “advisor” to both of the two largest prediction market companies, Kalshi and Polymarket, and holds millions of dollars in equity in both.

• The Trump Administration is set to spend nearly $1 billion dollars on White House renovations, including his infamous vanity ballroom project, which was stopped by a federal court in early August, only to be restarted again by his hand-picked Supreme Court majority.

• The administration will terminate federal funding for the Arctic Report Card. For the past 20 years, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been issuing this report as a way to alert the public to the substantial changes impacting the Arctic due to human-caused climate change. In response, former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad blasted the Trump Administration for “imposing ignorance on the system.” 

• The U.S. Forest Service will lift logging restriction in pristine National Forests, announcing their intention to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule, which had banned the construction of new roads in roadless areas of national forests. In doing so, they will open 30% of previously protected national forest land, making up nearly 60 million acres, to commercial logging and mining.

• The EPA is moving to make it easier for data centers and other large industrial facilities to avoid public scrutiny for air pollution, by getting rid of a requirement that states solicit public input on air permit applications for such projects.

• Disney and ABC are suing the Federal Communications Commission after the FCC ordered Disney to file to renew their broadcast licenses early, in apparent retaliation by the administration for what they view as negative coverage in "The View" and other programs on ABC.

• The percentage of high-ranking military officer appointments going to women has plunged to the lowest level in at least 25 years, as a result of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's blocking of individual nominations.

• The Trump Administration threatened to demolish the Kennedy Center if their so-called "renovations," which include adding President Trump's name to the facade, are not allowed to proceed.

The following articles discuss some of the challenging but necessary dynamics involved with resistance movements, what your rights are as protesters, and how local communities are successfully coming together to resist corporate grabs for local resources:

• Why bravery and heartbreak are essential to organizing
• Protesters’ Rights
• Grassroots Movement in Illinois Is Resisting Corporate Grab of Water Systems
• The data center fight is going global

During the month of August, there were judicial and community mobilization actions from which to draw hope and inspiration:

• Protest Camp Attempts to Block Border Wall Construction in Arizona
• Federal Appeals Court Upholds Rights of Detained Noncitizens to Bond Hearings
• Protesters gather at Big Bend National Park
• LAUSD says it will cut out vendors with ties to ICE. Educators flag contract connected to defense tech investment firm

School Vaccination Requirements

A new school year is around the corner! Parents: Now is the time to talk to your child’s health care provider about required vaccines for school.

Click here to learn about low- and no-cost immunization clinics.

DOROT Rosh Hashanah Package Delivery

Theatrical Event at Four Freedoms Park

Medical Aid in Dying Forum

Submissions for Community Board 8 Art Show

Gracie Square Art Show

Tapestry of New York

In honor of America’s 250th anniversary, K-12 students across New York State are invited to participate in Tapestry of New York, a statewide art media project celebrating creativity, history, and civic reflection.

Students will submit artwork or media exploring the theme “We the People,” to be featured in the Tapestry of New York online gallery.

Tapestry of New York welcomes submissions from K–12 students across New York State, including those in:

• Public, private, and charter schools
• Homeschool programs
• Libraries, museums, and after-school programs
• Community and youth organizations

Students may participate through a teacher or program leader, who submits work on their behalf. Parents or caregivers may also help students submit work. Submissions will be accepted any time through May 2027.