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The following is an end-of-session update on some of the bills that I sponsor. I also co-sponsor and support a much longer list of bills, which will be included in a comprehensive legislative update of the session that my office will mail out in the coming months.
Passed Both Houses and Signed by the Governor:
- S.9155, Clarifying Cannabis Retailer Siting Rules
This bill addressed legal confusion over where cannabis retailers could be located, threatening many existing small businesses and the growth of the nascent legal industry. The bill clarified that, when measuring the distance from a school or place of worship to the premises of a licensed cannabis retailer, the relevant endpoints are entrances providing regular ingress, codifying the "door-to-door" policy that had previously been in place at the Office of Cannabis Management. It also grandfathered in licenses granted as well as certain applications previously submitted under that standard. I'm very pleased that the Legislature and the governor were able to work together quickly to resolve this issue and balance the needs of our communities and the small businesses investing in the growing cannabis market. Many of those business owners and their employees will finally be able to rest easy knowing they will not have to relocate, and all stakeholders can be confident that there is clarity on the rules going forward.
Passed Both Houses and Awaiting the Governor's Action:
- S.10642, the Responsible Data Center Development Act
This bill, though carried by my colleague Senator Kristen Gonzalez, is an omnibus that includes elements of my legislation (S.9144) to implement a moratorium on new data center construction. It would place a 1-year moratorium on data center development while reasonable safeguards are put in place going forward, including protections for electric, gas, and water ratepayers against rising costs, clean energy generation requirements, benefits for host-communities, and protections against air, water, and noise pollution. This nation-leading bill will protect New Yorkers from the negative impacts of large-scale data centers by pressing the pause button for one year while we implement commonsense policies that will allow us to benefit from potential economic growth while avoiding the damage that data centers are causing in other states.
- S.8512, the Solar Up Now New York (SUNNY) Act
This bill will remove red tape and legalize "balcony solar," the small, plug-in solar panels that families can use to lower their energy bills and generate renewable energy, bringing New York State in line with other states including Utah, Connecticut, Maryland, Maine, Virginia, Colorado, and New Hampshire that have all passed similar bills in the last year. The SUNNY Act will enable New Yorkers to start generating their own clean, affordable power simply by plugging in eligible solar panels that can be purchased online or at a store, opening the door for millions more New Yorkers to have access to cheap, clean solar power, be part of the solution to the climate crisis, and shave a little bit off their electricity bill every month.
- S.9269, the New York Health Information Privacy Act
This bill would regulate companies that collect and sell healthcare information, and provide additional rights and protections to consumers related to the sale of their private health information. Most New Yorkers think their healthcare data is their own, that it's protected by federal HIPAA laws and is sacrosanct. But that could not be further from the truth. Our health data is being collected, tracked, and sold to third parties by a multitude of companies, including those that are supposed to be taking care of us - including women's health apps, mental health apps, online dating platforms, direct-to-consumer genetic test providers (23andMe, Ancestry.com), and Tik Tok, which tend to have vague or hard-to-find privacy policies. This critical legislation will empower New Yorkers by giving them control over how their health data is used.
- S.1280, the Healthy Homes Right to Know Act
This bill would require labels to be affixed to gas stoves sold in stores, informing customers of the scientific consensus around negative indoor air pollution and health impacts. Gas stoves emit a dangerous level of poisonous gasses into our homes, far exceeding any levels considered safe – even when they are not in use. Buying a stove is a major expense, and the kitchen is a center of family life and activity. Consumers have a right to know before they buy what the implications of their purchases are. Right now, retailers are completely failing to inform people of the risks of owning and using gas stoves, taking away consumers’ ability to make their own informed decisions.
- S.9650, Protecting Tenants from Misleading 421-a Riders
This bill would prohibit building owners from willfully including false or misleading information in 421-a lease riders, require the state housing agency to standardize the language of these riders, and establish a fine of $1,000 for any violation. Building owners receiving 421-a benefits are required to designate a portion of the units as affordable housing for at least the duration of the tax break. While receiving 421-a benefits, building owners must provide tenants in units that can be deregulated when the benefit period ends with lease riders specifying when this will take place so they can plan for the future. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous building owners have weaponized this process by deliberately including misinformation designed to make tenants believe their apartments will soon become unaffordable, leading many to live in fear and move out before the regulatory restrictions end.
- S.1574, the Electric Landscaping Equipment Rebate Program
This bill would create an Electric Landscaping Equipment Rebate Program, administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It would offer point-of-sale rebates to commercial landscapers and institutional users, including municipalities, who purchase battery-powered electric landscaping equipment, such as leaf blowers, weed whackers, or lawn mowers. Gas-powered landscaping equipment emits a stunning amount of air pollution, not to mention the noise that blights communities across the state. This bill will make it easier for New York's landscaping companies to transition to cleaner, quieter equipment.
- S.2273, Updating Harassment Laws
This bill would update the state's the Penal Law to include contacts via text, private message, direct message, email, or other electronic communication in the definition of aggravated harassment in the second degree. Existing law treats telephone calls made with an intent to harass or threaten an individual as aggravated harassment in the second degree, a Class A misdemeanor, but does not have any provision related to electronic communications such as text or email. As technology has evolved, forms of harassment have also evolved, and updating New York's Penal Law to reflect these changes will help protect New Yorkers from these new forms of harassment.
- S.8851, Closing Loopholes in Tropical Hardwood Restrictions
This bill would close longstanding loopholes allowing state agencies and municipalities to continue purchasing tropical hardwoods linked to deforestation in critical tropical rainforests despite existing 30-year old restrictions under New York law. Tropical forests are a critical part of the global ecosystem that we all depend on for our very survival, and they are threatened like never before. New York State must take the lead in ensuring our procurement dollars are not driving logging in these tropical forests, exacerbating the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, and threatening the rights, lands, and lives of Indigenous peoples.
Passed the Senate, Did Not Pass the Assembly:
- S.1162, Food Delivery Safety, Part I
This bill would help address safety concerns by requiring delivery app companies such as Door Dash and Grub Hub to maintain "no fault" insurance coverage for people providing food deliveries on their behalf, modeled on the state's requirements for insurance for cars and other vehicles.
- S.6845, Food Delivery Safety, Part II
This bill would require that delivery app companies and other delivery services verify the registration of mopeds and scooters used by employees or contractors, to help ensure that only legally operated vehicles are used for deliveries, and reduce the risk of unregistered or improperly maintained vehicles being on the road.
- S.1438, Abortion Clinical Training Program
This bill would create an Abortion Clinical Training Program within the Department of Health to help address abortion care deserts throughout New York and ensure there is an adequate number of health care practitioners who are trained in performing a full range of abortion and related reproductive health care services, including miscarriage management.
- S.9815, the Reproductive Healthcare Access Fund
This bill would provide for the transfer of surplus funds that state Marketplace insurance providers have been required to place in segregated accounts to cover the cost of abortion clinical care in New York, but which remain unused. Segregated funds would be transferred into the Reproductive Health Care Access Fund, from which appropriations would be made to the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Grant Program so that the surplus funds are used for their Congressionally-designated purpose.
- S.1477, Reforming Sovereign Debt Laws
This bill would strengthen New York's champerty laws to protect sovereign nations from predatory investors buying up their debt for the purpose of initiating litigation, protecting the people of those countries as well as New Yorkers, who are impacted by the ensuing geopolitical and economic destabilization.
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