Gov. Kathy Hochul is ducking any chance she’ll offend voters and powerful interest groups before Election Day by delaying action on a backlog of more than 420 bills that passed the legislature earlier this year, The Post has learned.

The hand-sitting on either signing or vetoing the state action, critics say, comes as Hochul fights for her political life in a neck-and-neck race against Republican rival Lee Zeldin heading into Tuesday’s election.

Some of the measures target the medical, bank, real estate and cryptocurrency mining industries that are hefty Hochul campaign donors, while others would benefit donor-friendly trial lawyers and transit worker unions, a list review by The Post reveals. 

“The governor has made a strategic decision not to sign or call up lots and lots of bills until after the election. It’s enormously frustrating,” said John Kaehny, director of the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany.

The stall has drawn frustration from even key Democratic allies.

For example, 56 members of the Black, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus sent a secret letter to Hochul — a copy of which was leaked to The Post — urging the governor to sign the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act into law. 

The bill passed the state Assembly and Senate on May 3.

“The prompt signing of FAPA into law is of particular concern to our Caucus since manipulative foreclosure practices disproportionately harm communities of color,” reads the letter, signed by Assemblywoman Michelle Solages (D-Valley Stream), the caucus chairwoman, and 55 other minority lawmakers.

“With each passing day, New York homeowners are increasingly losing their homes to what would otherwise be time-barred foreclosure actions. The FAPA should be signed into law in its current form without further delay.”

The measure, cosponsored by state Sen. James Sanders (D-Queens) and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein (D-Brooklyn), seeks to overturn a Court of Appeals ruling that reopened hundreds of foreclosure cases that homeowners thought they had won because lenders missed a key deadline.

“Since May, there have been no justifications as to why mortgage lenders should be afforded a privilege — the unilateral ability to manipulate and thus evade the statute of limitations which no other litigant enjoys in New York,” the lawmakers told Hochul.

But big real estate and banking industry players, including Hochul donors, lobbied against the bill — among them, J.P. Morgan Chase, Capital One and KeyBanc.

The City first reported on the fight over the bill after it passed the legislature in May.

A ban on cryptocurrency mining at old fossil fuel plants has also been left in the lurch. Mayor Eric Adams, a booster of the crypto industry and also a backer of the fellow-Democrat governor, has urged Hochul to veto the bill.

Hochul has reported a $40,000 campaign donation from Ashton Aoniat, Chairman & CEO of Coinmint, which operates one of the world’s largest crypto mining facilities in upstate Massena as well as lobbyists tied to the industry.

Another measure outlaws sales of dogs, cats and rabbits in retail pet stores. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) is strongly supported by animal rights activists to crack down on abusive “puppy mills” who supply the pets to retail stores.

But it is opposed by shop owners, who claim their stores will be put out of business.

“New York is complicit in animal abuse and it has to stop,” said Libby Post, head of the New York Animal Protection Federation.

Noting the overwhelming support for the bill in the legislature, Post said, “Protecting puppies and kittens is the last bastion of bipartisanship and non-partisanship.”

Another widely popular piece of legislation would restore the state comptroller’s authority to pre-audit contracts and sign off on spending, which was removed by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his first term in 2011.

The removal of state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s oversight preceded the Buffalo Billion bid-rigging scandal that led to corruption convictions of key Cuomo associates, including top aide Joe Percoco and Alain Kaloyeros.

Stricter oversight of executive spending would also prevent the type of play to play accusations that have haunted Hochul, including a brewing scandal involving a $637 million, no-bid contract for COVID rapid tests her administration gave to a company linked to $300,000 in contributions to her campaign.

There are ongoing negotiations over the auditing bill, which emerged as an issue in the only televised debate between Hochul and Republican gubernatorial rival Lee Zeldin, Kaehny said.

Hochul typically negotiates to amend bills rather than veto them, added Kaehny.

Another bill would make it harder for hospitals and doctors — major Hochul donors —  to collect debt from patients. 

The Post reported in September that Hochul attended a secret meeting at the Upper East Side townhouse of Alexander Rovt — a billionaire mega-donor to her campaign whose hospital network was bailed out by the state in April.

The consumer measure, pushed by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) and Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) protects patients from liens against their primary residence and wage garnishment due to money judgments owed to hospitals or doctors.

Elsewhere, one bill pits the trial lawyers against the business community.

The Grieving Families Act bill would allow New York courts to take emotional loss into consideration in a wrongful death case. The trial lawyers, who are big Hochul and Democratic Party donors, support the measure — while dozens of business groups oppose it, claiming there’d be a big spike in medical malpractice premiums.

Other measures would require at least two workers on rail passenger trains and bar discrimination against asylum seekers and green-card holders.

Team Hochul disputed the assertion that she is stalling on the legislation.

“Since taking office, Gov. Hochul has signed nearly 1,000 pieces of legislation, including almost 600 so far this year, that — whether the Post reports it or not — are strengthening public safety, keeping New Yorkers safe from gun violence, ensuring quality education for every child, delivering tax relief to hardworking New Yorkers, and supporting small businesses, and we are reviewing the remaining legislation,” said Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays.

Hochul signed 581 out of 1,007 bills — or 57% — of the bills that passed the legislature into law this year, more than in prior years, the governor’s office said.