Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday met with advocates from the Mental Health Association in New York State to discuss ongoing investments in mental health resources for young people in New York, including expanded access to youth and teen Mental Health First Aid training programs.

It was clear, though, that a priority for the governor remains enacting what she calls “nation-leading” legislation to address online safety and the harmful impacts of social media in the final weeks of the 2024 state legislative session.

The legislation is in the form of two bills, the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act and the Child Data Protection Act.

The first would require parental or guardian consent in order for children under 18 to access algorithms that tailor social media feeds. The latter would limit the ability of companies to collect personal data from children.

“They don't know how to stop because there's an intentional strategy to draw them in and get them addicted to this. That's our battle,” she said. “We can save them, and it starts with legislation that we hope that the Legislature will get through over the next couple of weeks.”

Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State, expressed his gratitude to the governor and legislators for shining a spotlight on the issue.

“Governor Hochul’s deep commitment to mental health programming has had transformative impacts for young New Yorkers in our community and throughout the state. As we continue our work, we hear often from young people and their families about the challenges regarding excessive social media use – and we applaud the governor’s focus on addressing this issue as quickly as possible,” he said.

Assembly bill sponsor Nily Rozic told Spectrum News 1 the bill remains a priority in the closing days of session, but indicated that work is still being done to ensure the bill has the support needed.

“With any big changes, fine tuning is what we are trying to do here,” she said. “We’re being thoughtful about the process hoping that most stakeholders will come to the table and be supportive of the bill.”

Opposition has largely come from tech groups that have expressed a variety of concerns that include privacy issues, as well as concern that algorithms are needed to keep content age appropriate.

Republican State Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, who is ranking member on the Mental Health Committee, told Spectrum News 1 Tuesday that the reform effort has her support.

“As a mom of four, I know full well how absorbing it can be to get sucked into social media,” she said. “I applaud the gov.ernor I’m glad this issue is getting attention and I think it’s very worthwhile to improve the mental health of our youth.”