VoterLens
New York State Senate District 41
Cornell University—Bachelor's in Industrial and Labor Relations
Data last updated 10/21/2026
Michelle Hinchey was elected to the New York State Senate in 2020 and represents New York's 41st Senate District as a Democrat/Working Families senator. Before running for office, she worked as an executive in the technology and media fields while also doing environmental advocacy as a grassroots organizer for Environment New York and serving on the board of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development.
Committee Assignments: Agriculture · Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation · Energy and Telecommunications · Environmental Conservation · Finance · Internet and Technology · Joint Senate Task Force on Opioids, Addiction & Overdose Prevention · Legislative Commission on Rural Resources · Legislative Women's Caucus · Transportation
Michelle Hinchey supports expanding access to healthcare and mental health services, especially in rural and upstate communities, and has sponsored healthcare legislation on hospital transparency, EMS reimbursement, hospice and palliative care, TBI care review, and protections for legally protected healthcare activity.
Michelle Hinchey, Democratic/Working Families state senator for New York's 41st Senate District, frames economic policy around lowering costs for working families, supporting small businesses and farms, and investing in workforce pathways for rural and upstate communities. Her record includes sponsoring workforce-stabilization legislation, co-sponsoring job-training standards, and championing budget items for child care, pre-K, school meals, infrastructure, and farm-economy supports.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Hinchey championed FY2024 budget investments including a $500 million child care Workforce Retention Grant Program, recruitment assistance for child care providers, and an Employer Child Care Tax Credit to support working families and care-sector jobs.
SourceMichelle Hinchey, Democratic/Working Families state senator for New York Senate District 41, has taken a pro-immigrant-rights stance: she opposes expanded ICE presence in schools and local detention infrastructure and supports legal representation, food assistance, and due-process protections for immigrants. Her record includes co-sponsoring immigrant legal defense and benefit-access bills and public statements opposing ICE activity in sensitive community settings.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Hinchey demanded that ICE abandon a proposed processing center in Chester and said local boards should use legal, zoning, and environmental tools to block it.
SourceHinchey said public schools must remain safe for all children regardless of immigration status and called targeting schools unacceptable.
SourceMichelle Hinchey supports climate action centered on clean energy, electric-vehicle infrastructure, renewable-energy deployment, battery storage, sustainable agriculture, and climate-resilient farming. As the Democratic/WF State Senator for New York Senate District 41, she has sponsored legislation to expand EV charging rights, improve soil health and farm climate resiliency, steer renewable-energy mitigation funds toward farmland protection, and encourage sustainable hemp-based packaging.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Hinchey supported the need for renewable-energy infrastructure including battery storage, saying New York and the country have been late to build storage needed to reliably use renewable energy.
SourceMichelle Hinchey supports increased public education funding, expanded pre-K, free school meals, and higher-education affordability for students in New York State Senate District 41. Her education record includes championing budget investments for SD-41 schools and co-sponsoring bills on school health instruction, inclusive student policies, library access, and graduate-student fees.
Specific Actions & Proposals
Hinchey said she secured 803 new pre-kindergarten seats and an 11.9% increase in Foundation Aid for Senate District 41 schools, calling public education a core function of state government.
SourceHinchey announced that the enacted FY2024 budget included $134.6 million to expand free school meals statewide, covering 30,992 students in the 41st Senate District.
SourceMichelle Hinchey's public-safety record emphasizes domestic-violence prevention, firearm-risk intervention, law-enforcement tools for online investigations, and targeted enforcement against illicit cannabis activity. As a sitting Democratic New York State Senator for District 41, she has sponsored or supported bills framed as strengthening courts, law enforcement, and victim protections.
NYSenate.gov
https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/michelle-hinchey/aboutFetched: biography, hometown, education, background, committees
The Commons Gallery
https://www.commonsgallery.com/senator/HINCHEYFetched: votingRecord, campaignFinance
Transparency USA
https://www.transparencyusa.org/ny/candidate/michelle-hinchey/payees?cycle=2024-election-cycleFetched: campaignFinance
Blue Voter Guide
https://bluevoterguide.org/district/NY/New_York_State_Senate_District_41/51830/830Fetched: endorsements
New York League of Conservation Voters
https://www.nylcv.org/press-item/nylcv-gives-green-announces-2026-endorsements-for-state-legislative-races/Fetched: endorsements
New York League of Conservation Voters
https://www.nylcv.org/candidate/michelle-hinchey/Fetched: endorsements
New York State United Teachers
https://www.nysut.org/resources/special-resources-sites/voter-guide/endorsementsFetched: endorsements
New York State Nurses Association
https://www.nysna.org/news/nysna-2026-endorsements-0Fetched: endorsements
Planned Parenthood Action
https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/uploads/filer_public/f2/02/f202ff2c-c444-49b0-b57d-795cc2cf2b3c/2024_ratings_senate_oct.pdfFetched: endorsements
The Freedom Index
https://thefreedomindex.org/ny/legislator/22254/votes/report-ny-scorecard-2024/pdf/scc/Fetched: endorsements
NYSenate.gov - About Michelle Hinchey
https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/michelle-hinchey/aboutFetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Senate Bill S8965
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S8965Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Senate Bill S8713
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S8713Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Senate Bill S9295
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S9295Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Senate Bill S2669
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S2669Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - TBI care bill press release
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/michelle-hinchey/hinchey-bill-launching-first-statewide-reviewFetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Michelle Hinchey About
https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/michelle-hinchey/aboutFetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Senate Bill S1854
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1854/amendment/originalFetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Senate Bill S563
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S563Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Agriculture package press release
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/michelle-hinchey/three-hinchey-bills-pass-senate-legislative-package?page=4Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - 2026 Session Wrap-Up
https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/open-data/Legislative%20Wrap%20Up_Book_2026.pdfFetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - FY2024 budget press release
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/michelle-hinchey/hinchey-announces-hudson-valley-wins-final-stateFetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - Senator Michelle Hinchey district page
https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/michelle-hinchey/districtFetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - ICE facility press release
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/michelle-hinchey/hinchey-takes-stand-against-proposed-ice-facility?page=0Fetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - ICE in schools statement
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/michelle-hinchey/senator-michelle-hinchey-statement-ice-schoolsFetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - S4538 BUILD Act bill page
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S4538Fetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - S9033 SNAP for All bill page
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S9033Fetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - S9756 immigration counsel bill page
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S9756Fetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - About Michelle Hinchey
https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/michelle-hinchey/aboutFetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - Electric Vehicle Rights Act bill page
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S8518Fetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act bill page
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S4722/amendment/AFetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - Renewable-energy farmland protection bill page
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S8889Fetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - Town of Ulster energy storage press release
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/michelle-hinchey/assemblymember-shrestha-and-senator-hinchey-find-noFetched: issuePositions
New York State Senate - Sustainable cannabis and hemp packaging bill page
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S5750Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Michelle Hinchey budget education funding press release
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/michelle-hinchey/hinchey-locks-funding-create-new-pre-k-seats-delivers?page=1Fetched: issuePositions
NYSenate.gov - Michelle Hinchey FY2024 budget press release
https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/michelle-hinchey/hinchey-announces-hudson-valley-wins-final-stateFetched: issuePositions
BallotReady - Michelle Hinchey profile
https://www.ballotready.org/people/michelle-hincheyFetched: issuePositions