New York state assemblymembers Tuesday voted in the final hours of session to pass consumer protection reforms that expand the powers of the state Attorney General's Office to go after predatory lenders and scammers.

State Attorney General Letitia James made it clear to the Legislature this session to change state law to prohibit "unfair" and "abusive" business practices across the state. She lobbied for the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable Business Practices, or FAIR Business Practices Act, which cleared the Assembly on Tuesday night with a vote of 94-48.

"Markets function effectively when people have confidence in them…that they can engage in commerce with confidence," sponsor Assemblyman Micah Lasher said during his affirmative vote. "That’s how you create a thriving economy. That’s the kind of an economy we should have in New York."

If signed into law, the measure will empower the attorney general to go after deceptive business practices like predatory lenders, student loan services, nursing homes and others.

James pressured lawmakers as President Donald Trump's administration threatens to roll back protections, and largely dismantled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Republicans voted against the legislation — arguing they're uncomfortable with how the reforms expand the attorney general's authority and are concerned the changes will make it more difficult for people to do business in the state.

"It exposes businesses to increased lawsuits, which increases costs [and] increases the need for them to do things other than business," said Long Island Republican Assemblyman Ed Ra said on the floor. "I think this is too expansive and too vague to entrust to the judgment of the attorney general."

The legislation was amended significantly earlier this month after weeks of negotiations between business leaders and the AG's office, including eliminating the availability of additional civil penalty for a private right of action to prevent an onslaught of class action lawsuits, and the removal of language to address concerns about third-party lawsuits.

Business groups are more comfortable with the compromise, but said they're still worried about potential harm to small businesses.

"The original language that we were really concerned about looked like, speak of abuse, it looked like it was ripe for abuse," Upstate United Executive Director Justin Wilcox told Spectrum News 1 on Tuesday.

Business groups have fought hard against the proposal, arguing the language is too vauge and would make small businesses susceptible to frivolous lawsuits.

Wilcox argues while the new bill isn't as harmful as the original, New York's consumer protection laws don't need to be changed.

"The attorney general is doing a great job using [existing law] to protect consumers from abusive acts already, so again, we think it's unnecessary," he said.

State senators voted to approve the legislation early Friday morning before going home for the year.

Lasher said business leaders lobbied against the legislation in bad faith to defeat changing the status quo, but the compromise was enough to overcome powerful groups against the reforms.

"Albany is a place where powerful special interests get their way much of the time," the assemblyman told Spectrum News 1 before Tuesday's vote. "They have been trying for years now to prevent any expansion of state law to protect consumers. I'm hopeful we've broken through that power."

A spokesperson with the Business Council of New York State, which has been leading opposition to the consumer protection reforms, said the group appreciates the efforts the sponsors made to amend the bill.

"If it passes, we hope to continue having discussions with the sponsors, governor and attorney general to make additional, necessary changes to meet the concerns of all businesses," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Lasher said the bill should not be weakened further during negotiations with the governor.

"I think there's more that we could have done, more that should be done in the future," Lasher said. "If anything were to happen to the bill in the process of consideration before the governor, it should be strengthened, not weakened."

The bill represents the first expansion of the AG's consumer protections powers in 55 years, and modernizes state law with 42 other states, the assemblyman added.

Gov. Kathy Hochul included a proposal to strengthen consumer protections in her 2024 executive budget, but it fell out of the final spending plan.