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Floor News
Motions to Discharge
• Assembly Republicans, led by Assemblymen Smullen and Pirozzolo, attempted to discharge two important pieces of legislation from Committee and bring them to the Floor for a vote. The following motions to discharge were blocked by Assembly Democrats:
~A.8134 (Smullen) – Creates the Rural Mobile Communications Fund to increase cellular service in low- to no-coverage areas, with priority for grants given to rural areas that can identify public safety concerns (vote: 55-95).
~A.8351 (Pirozzolo) – Provides a $6,000 income tax deduction to veterans who were other than dishonorably discharged (vote 53-96).
Emergency Appropriation Extenders
• The Assembly and Senate passed a bill (A.9851) in order to provide emergency appropriations for the support of the government between April 1st and April 18th (vote: 147-0).
~The Assembly and Senate passed an additional one-day emergency appropriation extender (A.9852-A) for the support of the government between April 1st and April 19th (vote: 149-0).
Committee News
Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development
• Due to questions raised by Republican Members, a bill (A.8301) that would require the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to establish design standards for trails, road crossing treatments, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities was pulled from the agenda by the Chair after concerns were raised regarding fiscal implications as well as vague and unspecified design requirements.
Veterans’ Affairs
• The Veterans’ Affairs Committee unanimously reported a bill (A.6992-A) requiring the Department of Veterans’ Services to provide legal support to veterans who want to change their ‘discharged’ status to ‘honorable,’ including persons dishonorably or administratively discharged from the armed services due to their sexual orientation.
~This bill was reported to the Floor.
Judiciary
• Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Judiciary Committee reported a bill (A.4921-C) that makes various technical amendments throughout various provisions of law relating to the requirements, stipulations, and criteria of surrogacy programs and agreements.
~This bill was reported to the Floor.
• The Judiciary Committee reported the following bills to the Floor:
~A.6026 – Enacts “Melanie’s Law” to allow courts to issue orders of protection for immediate family members or household members of named victims.
▪ This bill was originally introduced and sponsored by Assemblyman Beephan
(A.3277).
~A.7241-A – Exempts non-electronic notarial acts from being required to be recorded or
maintained in a notarial record.
▪ This bill was originally introduced and sponsored by Assemblyman Norris (A.6207).
Energy
• Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Energy Committee reported a bill (A.8611) providing for utility intervenor reimbursement by requiring payment of reasonable advocate's fees and other costs to certain groups and not-for-profit organizations that represent residential or small business utility customers for preparation and participation in any proceeding before the Public Service Commission (PSC) related to the price of gas, electricity, or steam.
~This bill was reported to Codes.
Environmental Conservation
• The Environmental Conservation Committee reported a bill (A.9213) that requires the owner of a major facility or vessel in the State (i.e., any refinery, storage or transfer terminal, pipeline, deep water port, drilling platform or any appurtenance related to any of the preceding that is used or is capable of being used to refine, produce, store, handle, transfer, process, or transport petroleum) to provide to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) satisfactory evidence of financial responsibility.
~This bill was reported to Codes.
● Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Environmental Conservation Committee reported a bill (A.8289-B) that prohibits the idling of any noncommercial passenger vehicle that idles for more than 3 consecutive minutes when the vehicle is not in motion.
~This bill was reported to Codes.
Banks
• The Banks Committee reported a bill (A.4088-A) directing the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to regulate licensed consumer debt collectors. This bill prohibits any person from acting in this State as a consumer debt collector, directly or indirectly, without obtaining a license from the Superintendent of Financial Services. It also institutes various protections against deceptive or abusive debt collection practices.
~This bill was reported to Codes.
• Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Banks Committee reported a bill (A.9057-A) to require all banking organizations to accept the New York City identity card as a primary source of identification for account-opening purposes. In the event that a customer's New York City identity card does not contain a residential or business street address, a banking organization is prohibited from denying a customer account-opening services, provided the customer can furnish a residential or business street address of their next of kin or another contact individual.
~This bill was reported to Codes.
Correction
• Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Correction Committee reported a bill (A.9169) to codify existing State procedures and directives that already:
~Require the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to establish and maintain an annual heat mitigation plan to ensure that incarcerated individuals and correctional facility staff stay cool, hydrated, and safe during high-heat temperatures; and
~Require the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Extreme Heat Action Plan Work Group to analyze the impact of extreme heat on the incarcerated and people working in prisons.
▪ This bill was reported to the Floor.
Week In Focus
• On Monday, Assembly Republican Members held a press conference highlighting the significance of Tax Day and New York’s lack of economic competitiveness. To view CLICK HERE
• On Tuesday, Assembly Republican Members held a bipartisan press conference to emphasize the need to increase participation in the Donate Life Registry. To view CLICK HERE
• On Wednesday, Assembly Republican Members held a press conference calling out New York’s backward budget process.
• The Assembly and Senate passed the 2024-25 Enacted Budget. For more information, please contact Ways and Means at (518) 455-4131.