A sampling of bills introduced in Albany

By Chip Rowe

Below is a list of some of the 66 bills introduced since January in the state Senate by Republican Sue Serino, whose district includes the Highlands, and the 64 introduced in the Assembly by Democrat Sandy Galef, whose district includes Philipstown. Democrat Jonathan Jacobson, who was elected to the Assembly in November and whose district includes Beacon, has not yet introduced a bill, although he has been a co-sponsor.

When introduced, a bill is assigned to a committee, which is where most of them remain, although some will be approved in the Senate or the Assembly but not both. Both chambers must approve a bill for it to reach the governor. Those that don’t end up on his desk for a signature or veto in one session are often introduced again in the next.

Click to enlarge. (NYS State Senate graphic)

 

Sue Serino

Sue Serino

S1016: Directs the state to develop informational materials on endometriosis and other menstrual disorders for distribution in school districts.

S1241: Establishes a tax credit for grocery donations to food pantries.

S1242: Exempts motorists in Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland and Orange, which are considered “commuter counties” but have only one vote among them on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, from paying registration fees to the MTA that amount to $17 million annually.

S1251: Allows a judge to forbid a person accused of domestic violence from having contact with any pet cared for by the victim.

S1294: Allows a person to be charged with manslaughter or promoting suicide if his or her conduct contributes to the death of an elderly person or an incompetent or physically disabled person. The bill cites the death of Bailey Bates, a 19-year-old autistic man from Poughkeepsie who killed himself after being scammed out of his disability assistance.

S1297: Requires teachers and school nurses to notify parents when they remove a tick from a student.

S1299: Requires a two-thirds majority of the state or any local legislature to approve bills that raise taxes.

S1309: Prohibits sex offenders from working as school bus drivers.

S1310/S1311: Allows children to testify via closed-circuit TV in legal proceedings involving charges of murder and assault. The practice has been allowed since 1985 in cases involving sexual abuse.

S1314: Requires low-level sex offenders to verify their addresses every six months instead of annually. High-level offenders must verify every 90 days.

S1315: Prohibits sex offenders from having unsupervised access to residential units, such as being employed as a building superintendent, and from working on vehicles that sell frozen desserts.

S1318: Allows all veterans, not just those who are disabled, to ride Metro-North for half price.

S1350: Prohibits lobbyists, political action committees and unions from loaning money to candidates.

S1354: Allows county sheriffs to assign deputies as school resource officers at private schools.

S1422: Allows vehicles delivering human organs for transplant to operate with flashing lights and sirens.

Sandy Galef

Sandy Galef

A00389: Prohibits pharmacies from selling tobacco products.

A01490: Requires a judge to consider convictions for boating while intoxicated within the previous 25 years as the equivalent of driving-while-intoxicated convictions, and vice versa, at sentencing.

A1498: Requires retailers to provide a 60-day raincheck for any sale item that is out of stock.

A03640: Allows employees to take paid family leave to care for siblings.

A04634: Prohibits members of the state Legislature from providing grants or discretionary funds to businesses or nonprofits in which the member or close relatives hold an official or legal position.

A04743: Allows school districts to refuse to allow its buildings to be used as polling places.

A05404: Classifies spent fuel rods at the Indian Point nuclear power plant as “real property” rather than equipment, allowing the local assessor to give them a value so they can be taxed. That, in turn, could provide a financial incentive for the plant’s owner to send the rods to Europe and Asia for processing that can pull more energy from the uranium.

A05748: Limits to $1,000 the amount that an individual or business that has a state contract worth more than $15,000 can contribute to any elected official who voted to approve the contract.

A05896: Prohibits homeowners’ associations from restricting the installation of solar-power systems.

A05950: Prohibits political fundraisers within a 15-mile radius of the Capitol when the Legislature is in session.

A06584: Requires sleep-apnea testing for train engineers.

Behind The Story

Type: News

News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

A former longtime national magazine editor, Rowe has worked at newspapers in Michigan, Idaho and South Dakota and has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University. Location: Philipstown. Languages: English. Area of Expertise: General.

2 replies on “There Oughta Be a Law”

  1. Where are the bills to reduce New York State taxes and fees? All I see here are more ways to waste tax money.

  2. State Sen. Sue Serino is sponsoring a bill to protect pets from any contact with an accused domestic abuser but in the very same year she has voted against the Red Flag Bill which is intended to keep firearms out of the hands of a person accused of domestic abuse. Her priorities are clear.

Comments are closed.