New York Legislature Passes Police Radio Transparency Act — Hochul Faces Second Decision

What Passed and What It Would Require

Assembly Bill A.11199A, sponsored by Bronx Assembly Member Karines Reyes, passed the full Assembly on June 3, 2026 by a vote of 82 to 58. The companion Senate bill, S.10079, sponsored by Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris of Queens, passed the Senate chamber as well — sending the legislation to Governor Hochul for her signature.

If signed into law, the Police Radio Transparency Act would require any law enforcement agency in New York State that encrypts its radio communications to continue providing real-time access to credentialed members of the press and other emergency service organizations. It would also require agencies to make communications available to the general public on a time-delayed basis. Agencies would have 180 days from the law's effective date to come into compliance.

The bill explicitly excludes the New York City Police Department. NYPD encryption is addressed separately under NYC Local Law 46 of 2026, which requires the department to submit a press-access implementation plan to the City Council by July 2026.

Why the Legislature Is Trying Again

This is the second consecutive session in which the New York Legislature has passed a statewide police radio press-access bill. The first, S.416/A.3516, known as the Keep Police Radio Public Act, passed both chambers in June 2025 and was vetoed by Governor Hochul on December 19, 2025 — one day after the New York City Council passed its own encryption-access bill, Local Law 46.

In her December 2025 veto message, Hochul acknowledged that transparency was "a worthy goal" but argued the bill "may not be technologically feasible" given the range of radio infrastructure across the state. She also cited the risk of exposing undercover officer communications and expressed concern that broad credentialing standards would extend scanner access to, in her words, those who should not have it — language critics read as a reference to bloggers and independent news publishers.

Press freedom advocates disputed all three rationales. They pointed to Colorado's HB21-1250, which has been in force since 2021 and requires encrypted departments to offer 24-hour delayed public audio, as evidence that implementation is feasible at scale. They also noted that credentialing systems already exist for managing law enforcement access at press conferences and crime scenes — applying similar criteria to radio access is not technically novel.

The governor's technological feasibility argument was answered by Colorado four years ago. Every concern she raised has a documented solution.

— New York Press Photographers Association, in a statement praising the legislature's passage

The revised 2026 bill tightens the credentialing definition, responds to implementation concerns raised in Hochul's veto message, and carves out NYPD to address the argument that the city was already handling its own access policy through Local Law 46.

The Advocacy Coalition Behind the Bill

A 14-organization coalition called the New York Media Consortium has backed successive versions of the bill across multiple legislative sessions. Members include the NYS Broadcasters Association, the NewsGuild of New York, the New York Press Photographers Association, the New York Press Club, the Deadline Club, and the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).

After the Senate passed S.10079, the NewsGuild of New York issued a statement calling the legislation a win for freedom of the press and calling on Hochul to sign it. The NYS Broadcasters Association, which had tracked the bill through committee and onto the floor, posted that the legislature's second passage represented a "big win" for broadcast journalism and public transparency.

RTDNA, which has identified police radio encryption as its most pressing press-freedom concern nationally, noted that New York's situation is emblematic of a broader crisis: police departments are encrypting at scale without requiring equivalent public-access accommodations, and state legislators who pass press-access bills face governors reluctant to override law enforcement preferences.

What Encryption Has Already Cost New York Newsrooms

NYPD completed its precinct-level encryption in 2025 under the $390 million radio upgrade that began in the early 2020s. With NYPD encrypted, television stations across New York City can no longer independently monitor police radio to dispatch crews to breaking incidents. Stations must rely on NYPD press releases, the department's social media accounts, and secondhand information from witnesses and officials — sources that are subject to editorial control by the agency being covered.

Local Law 46 was designed to address that gap by requiring the NYPD to maintain a press access feed. But NYPD's implementation plan is not yet public — it is due in July 2026 — and advocates have no assurance the plan will meet operational needs of newsrooms that relied on real-time scanner monitoring for decades.

Outside New York City, dozens of agencies across the state have encrypted in recent years, including portions of the state police system, regional agencies in the Hudson Valley, and suburban departments across Long Island and Westchester County. Each encryption reduces the buffer of independent verification available to local reporters. The statewide bill would create a floor of press access across all of them — something Local Law 46 does not address.

When police control the information, they control the narrative. Radio access is the one channel the press has always had that doesn't go through a public affairs office.

— Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, in its statement on the encryption trend

Hochul's Decision: What Happens Next

Governor Hochul has three options. She can sign the bill into law, making New York the largest state to mandate press access to encrypted police radio. She can veto it again, potentially triggering an override attempt in the legislature. Or she can allow the bill to lapse without action — a passive version of a veto.

A second veto would be harder to defend politically. The bill has now passed both chambers twice, with bipartisan support in multiple sessions. NYC's implementation of Local Law 46 — whatever form NYPD's access plan takes — will be live by the time the governor faces this decision, providing a real-world example of encrypted radio and press access coexisting in New York State's largest jurisdiction.

If signed, the law would set a precedent. New York is not the first state to pass such a bill — Colorado's 2021 law predates it — but New York's size and visibility mean a signed law would likely accelerate press-access advocacy in other states and reshape the conversation nationally about what encryption without accommodations costs journalism.

For advocates, the logic is simple: the legislature has now spoken twice. The governor's technological feasibility argument has been refuted by example. Her credentialing concern has been addressed in the revised text. The remaining question is whether she is willing to sign a bill that her own law enforcement lobby opposes.

What Advocates Want Readers to Do

The window between a bill's passage and a governor's action is the most important moment for public advocacy. Hochul's office tracks constituent contact, and a bill this politically visible responds to visible pressure. Specific actions that make a difference:

• Contact Governor Hochul's office directly and ask her to sign A.11199A/S.10079.
• Contact your state assembly member and senator and ask them to publicly urge the governor to sign.
• Share news coverage of the bill's passage with local journalists who have been affected by encryption — personal testimony from affected newsrooms matters.
• If you work in a newsroom, ask your organization to join the New York Media Consortium or issue a public statement of support.

The bill's fate will also influence whether similar legislation advances in other states currently debating encryption policy. A Hochul signature would put advocates in a stronger position in Illinois, Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Jersey — all states where some form of press-access legislation has been introduced or debated.