Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie began his closing remarks just before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, marking the end of the legislative session and any hope that the State Assembly would pass the Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act, one of the most closely watched bills this legislative session.

The bill already passed in the state Senate. It also passed in the Senate last year, but never made it to the floor for a vote in the Assembly after Governor Kathy Hochul’s last-minute decision to pause congestion pricing upended the final hours of the legislative session.

The clock ran out once again this year, but without a similar curveball to point to.

Environmental advocates were frustrated Wednesday that the bill was not brought up earlier, and sources say discussions over what to do about the bill and lingering skepticism continued until late into the evening Tuesday before it ultimately became clear that the bill would not get the green light from Heastie.

Advocates hoped that the legislation, which would require large companies who earn in excess of $5 million to pay fees on packaging waste which would then go toward reduction initiatives while requiring a 30% reduction in packaging over 12 years, would appear on the first debate list released Tuesday morning. When it failed to appear, that hope turned to a potential second debate list to be released later in the evening.

Those who pushed the bill claimed it will be a step toward addressing New York’s role in out of control plastic use, and as of Tuesday evening, lawmakers were still pressing Heastie to give the bill a shot.

In the Assembly parlor, lobbyists from both sides remained camped out into Tuesday evening.

Judith Enck, former EPA regional administrator under President Barack Obama and president of Beyond Plastics, has pushed relentlessly for the bill. She had hoped Heastie would send the bill to the floor, pointing out that the Assembly has taken little action on climate this session, including prompting a watering down of the HEAT Act to just a simple repeal of the 100 Foot Rule on Monday.

“I think it’s now all in the hands of the speaker,” she said earlier Tuesday. “Does he want to have a record of environmental accomplishment this session or does he want to just have one or two modest bills with the backdrop of Washington abandoning environmental protections?”

Opposition from business interests and some labor unions has centered around the idea that the bill’s mandates would be costly to businesses as they work around potential bans on materials used in packaging while also criticizing its creation of an advisory body. Business Council of New York State Vice President Ken Pokalsky told Spectrum News 1 before it became clear that the bill wouldn’t make it to the floor that the Business Council had "done its job."

“We have a consistent and accurate message that the bill that passed the Senate, that is on the Assembly calendar, is going to be expensive and unworkable,” he said.