Weekly Legislative Update - April 4, 2025

Floor News

Emergency Appropriation Extenders

The Assembly and Senate unanimously passed two bills this week (A.7515 [vote: 144-0] and A.7635 [vote: 148-0]) in order to provide emergency appropriations for the support of the government through April 3 and April 7, respectively.

Motion to Discharge

Assembly Republicans, led by Assemblyman Maher, attempted to discharge an important piece of legislation from the Children and Families Committee and bring it to the Floor for a vote. The motion to discharge the following bill was blocked by Assembly Democrats:

A.2042 (Maher): Requires the Commissioner of Children and Family Services to conduct a study to identify and remove barriers within existing law and regulations that prevent or hinder the establishment of new child care providers (vote: 47-100).

Removing Restrictive Covenants Prior to Selling Property

The Assembly passed a bill (A.1820-A), which requires the seller of a property to remove any covenants, conditions, and restrictions that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, national origin, source of

income, or ancestry prior to the sale of the property (vote: 100-48).

Committee News

Real Property Taxation

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Real Property Taxation Committee blocked a bill (A.3252, Simpson), which requires the State to pay taxes on the assessed value of properties of closed State prisons until those prisons are reopened, repurposed by another State agency, or sold to a non-governmental entity.

Higher Education

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Higher Education Committee blocked a bill

(A.2376, Ra), which enacts the Dismantling Student Antisemitism (DSA) Act to require Chancellors of the City University of New York and State University of New York and all presidents of accredited higher education institutions to amend existing sensitivity training to include training pertaining to antisemitism, adopt a uniform hate and discrimination policy statement related to antisemitism, and issue a report on campus incidents related to antisemitism to the State Education Department.

Election Law

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Election Law Committee blocked a bill

(A.1927,Slater), which requires a valid and current government-issued photo ID to be presented when casting a ballot.

Housing

Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Housing Committee reported the following

bills:

A.3125: Makes it unlawful for a landlord to implement or use automated decision tools,

including those that employ artificial intelligence, for the purposes of screening applicants

for housing unless a disparate impact analysis is conducted by an independent auditor to

assess the impact of using such automated decision tools. This bill was reported to Codes.

A.340-A: Requires manufactured home park owners to provide written justification for rent increases in excess of three percent of the current rent. This bill was reported to the Floor.

Governmental Operations

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Governmental Operations Committee blocked a

bill (A.2411, Ra), which requires a State agency to get approval from the Senate and the Assembly before adopting or readopting a rule on an emergency basis.

Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Governmental Operations Committee reported a bill (A.4040-A), which codifies the disparate impact standard into the Human Rights Law in relation to allegations of housing discrimination. This bill was reported to Codes.

Transportation

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Transportation Committee blocked the following bills related to the “Green Light Law”:

A.1528 (Gray): Exempts counties within the State that share a border with Canada from

the provisions of the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, which allows migrants and

illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses.

A.2370 (Brabenec): Repeals the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, which allows

migrants and illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses.

Agriculture

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Agriculture Committee blocked a bill

(A.2026,Miller), which eliminates the requirement that to be guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals, a person who intentionally kills or causes serious physical injury to a companion animal must have intended to cause extreme physical pain or committed such act in an especially depraved or sadistic manner.

Correction

Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Correction Committee reported the following bills:

A.127: Enacts the “Fair and Timely Parole Act,” which fundamentally changes the parole

hearing process by creating a “presumption of release” for any inmate appearing before

the Parole Board. This bill was reported to Codes.

A.514: Enacts the “Elder Parole Act,” which requires the Parole Board to conduct an interview (for release to community supervision) for any inmate who has served at least 15 years of his sentence and has reached the age of 55, regardless of the crime committed.This bill was reported to Codes.

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Correction Committee blocked the following bills:

A.3217 (Simpson): Repeals the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement(HALT) Act.

A.4228 (Palmesano): Directs the DOCCS Commissioner to establish a contraband screening plan that includes the use of a leashed and controlled canine trained to detect illegal drugs at the entrance of every correctional facility.

Codes

Despite unanimous Republican support, the Codes Committee blocked the following bills:

A.632 (Barclay): Adds any Penal Law misdemeanor or felony offense involving the

possession, display, or discharge of a firearm, rifle, shotgun, machine-gun, or disguised gun

to the list of qualifying offenses that would permit the court to fix bail or commit the

principal to the custody of the sheriff.

A.1480 (Angelino): Makes life imprisonment without parole mandatory for defendants

convicted of Murder in the First Degree or Murder in the Second Degree, and the victim is

a police officer, peace officer, first responder, or correction officer.

A.1578 (Mikulin): Mandates life without parole for the crimes of Aggravated Murder,

Murder in the First Degree, or Murder in the Second Degree, where the victim was less than

18 years old.

A.2262 (Gandolfo): Enacts “Laken’s Law,” which contains the following provisions:

Requires law enforcement agencies in New York State to forward copies of fingerprints

and associated reports detailing an arrest of non-citizens to U.S. Immigration and

Customs Enforcement (ICE);

Requires courts within the State to immediately notify ICE upon the felony or

misdemeanor conviction of a non citizen ;

Requires notification to ICE upon the impending release of a non citizen

who has been detained or confined in a State correctional facility, local jail, or a secure facility operated by OCFS;

Reinstates the maximum one-year sentence for a class A misdemeanor for deportation

purposes; and

Repeals provisions of law that currently prevent certain immigration-related arrests at

courthouses.

A.2269 (Hawley): Amends the class E felony crime of Aggravated Harassment of an

Employee by an Inmate by eliminating the requirement that an inmate who causes an

employee to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, or the contents

of a toilet bowl must “throw, toss or expel” such fluid or material in order to be guilty of

this crime.

A.3299 (Durso): Includes within the class B violent felony crime of Assault in the First

Degree when, with intent to cause serious physical injury to a first responder or a correction

officer, a person causes such injury by exposing them to fentanyl, a fentanyl derivative, an

opiate containing fentanyl, or a fentanyl derivative.

A.3334 (Smith): Includes intentionally causing physical injury to on‑duty members of an auxiliary police program and NYC school safety agents within the class D violent felony

crime of Assault in the Second Degree.

A.4161 (Reilly): Adds the possession of a loaded firearm as one of the current

circumstances that allows an Adolescent Offender (AO) charged with a violent felony

offense to be tried in the Youth Part of the criminal court and not escape criminal

responsibility by being removed to Family Court or juvenile probation intake.

A.4206 (Reilly): Directs the court, when determining pre-trial release, to also consider whether the defendant poses a risk or threat of physical danger to the safety of any person or the community. Makes Stalking in the Second and Third Degrees bail-eligible crimes.Gives judges the authority to revoke a person’s bail if he/she commits a class A misdemeanor while out on bail for having committed a felony.

A.4244 (K. Brown): Authorizes the court to remand a defendant into custody for drug treatment for up to 15 days where there is a substantial risk of continued substance abuse and the likelihood of causing serious self-harm. Allows certain individuals who have had an opioid overdose requiring the use of an opioid antagonist to be temporarily detained for evaluation in a mental health or substance use disorder treatment facility.

Environmental Conservation

Despite unanimous Republican opposition, the Environmental Conservation Committee reported the following bills:

A.1179: Which adds State forests, reforestation areas, wildlife management areas, and unique areas to the State‑owned lands that are excluded from the exploration,development, and production of gas.This bill was reported to the Floor.

A.4725-A: Which directs the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to prohibit the use of drilling fluids, brine, and flowback water from wells, pools, or fields on any highway for the purposes of de-icing, dust suppression, or any other use.This bill was reported to Codes.

Week In Focus

On 4/2, Assemblymen Tannousis, Palmesano, Beephan, and Gray joined Members of the Assembly Republican Conference at a press conference opposing the decision to give certain inmates early release directly related to the staffing issues in prisons throughout New York State. To view the press conference CLICK HERE

On 4/2, Assemblyman Blumencranz and Members of the Assembly Republican Conference held a press conference calling for a #NoFaithinHate New York State Education and Civility

Summit to bring leaders together to promote understanding, unity, and respect. To view the press conference CLICK HERE