NY State Senate Bill 2021-S8619

Senate Bill S8619

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Establishes a statute of limitations to recover damages for personal injury or death of a resident at a nursing home during the COVID-19 state of emergency

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 22, 2022	referred to judiciary

2021-S8619 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9100
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Civil Practice Law and Rules
Laws Affected:: Add §217-b, CPLR

2021-S8619 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a statute of limitations of two years for an action to recover damages for personal injury or death of a resident at a nursing home during the COVID-19 state of emergency.

2021-S8619 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8619

SPONSOR: BIAGGI
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to estab-
lishing a statute of limitations to bring an action to recover damages
for personal injury or death of a resident at a nursing home during the
COVID-19 state of emergency; and providing for the repeal of such
provisions upon expiration thereof

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To extend the statute of limitations for civil claims and causes of
actions for personal injury or death of a nursing home resident due to
COVID-19.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the Civil Practice Law and Rules to enable the bringing
of civil claims or causes of actions related to personal injury or death
of a nursing home resident due to COVID-19 for up to two years after the

effective date of this bill.

Section 2 sets the effective date as immediate and sunsets on January 1,
2035.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Over 15,000 residents of nursing homes in New York State have passed
away due to negligence by nursing home facilities and the policies
promulgated by the state government, such as the March 25, 2020 execu-
tive order to send covid positive patients to nursing homes and the
granting of legal immunity for nursing home executives. While legal
immunity for nursing homes to evade liability for damages residents have
incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic has since been repealed, justice
for victims of these facilities must still be realized.  This bill will
attempt to redress the wrongdoings by the state govern- ment by amending
the state's civil procedure laws and extending the statute of limita-
tions for COVID-19-related personal injury and death claims to two years
after the passage of this bill.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately upon passage and sunsets on January 1, 2035.

2021-S8619 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8619
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 22, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to  estab-
   lishing a statute of limitations to bring an action to recover damages
   for  personal  injury  or death of a resident at a nursing home during
   the COVID-19 state of emergency; and providing for the repeal of  such
   provisions upon expiration thereof
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
 section 217-b to read as follows:
   § 217-B. ACTION TO RECOVER DAMAGES FOR PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH  OF  A
 RESIDENT  AT  A  NURSING HOME DURING THE COVID-19 STATE OF EMERGENCY. 1.
 THE FOLLOWING WORDS AND PHRASES WHEN USED IN THIS  SECTION  SHALL  HAVE,
 UNLESS  THE  CONTEXT  CLEARLY INDICATES OTHERWISE, THE MEANINGS GIVEN TO
 THEM IN THIS SECTION:
   (A) "NURSING HOME" SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS DEFINED  IN  SECTION
 TWENTY-EIGHT  HUNDRED  ONE  OF  THE  PUBLIC HEALTH LAW AND SHALL INCLUDE
 ADULT HOMES, ENRICHED HOUSING PROGRAMS, ASSISTED LIVING  RESIDENCES  AND
 RESIDENTIAL HEALTH CARE FACILITIES AS DEFINED IN SUCH SECTION.
   (B)  "RESIDENT"  MEANS A DECEDENT WHO WAS A RESIDENT OF A NURSING HOME
 LOCATED IN THE STATE AND COVID-19 CAUSED OR CONTRIBUTED  TO  SUCH  RESI-
 DENT'S  DEATH, AS DOCUMENTED ON SUCH RESIDENT'S DEATH CERTIFICATE, OR AS
 CERTIFIED BY A PHYSICIAN, NURSE PRACTITIONER, OR  PHYSICIAN'S  ASSISTANT
 CURRENTLY  IN GOOD STANDING IN ANY STATE OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, OR
 A PHYSICIAN, NURSE PRACTITIONER, OR PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT AUTHORIZED  TO
 PRACTICE  IN  NEW  YORK  BY EXECUTIVE ORDER DURING THE DECLARED COVID-19
 STATE OF EMERGENCY WHO DETERMINES WITH A REASONABLE  DEGREE  OF  MEDICAL
 CERTAINTY  THAT  COVID-19 CAUSED OR CONTRIBUTED TO THE RESIDENT'S DEATH.
 RESIDENT SHALL INCLUDE ANY TEMPORARY RESIDENT OF A NURSING HOME  WHO  IS
 RECEIVING SUBACUTE REHABILITATION CARE OR TEMPORARY REHABILITATION CARE.
   (C)  "THE  NOVEL  CORONAVIRUS  PANDEMIC (COVID-19)" SHALL REFER TO THE
 PERIOD OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER TWO HUNDRED
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14453-01-2

 S. 8619                             2
 
 TWO ON MARCH SEVENTH, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY IN RESPONSE TO THE OUTBREAK OF
 THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS.
   2.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  PROVISION  OF LAW TO THE CONTRARY, ALL CIVIL
 CLAIMS OR CAUSES OF ACTION BROUGHT BY ANY PERSON FOR DAMAGES  AGAINST  A
 NURSING  HOME  FOR  PERSONAL  INJURIES OR THE DEATH OF A RESIDENT DURING
 COVID-19, INCLUDING AN ACTION PURSUANT TO SECTION  TWENTY-EIGHT  HUNDRED
 ONE-D  OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, MAY BE COMMENCED WITHIN TWO YEARS AFTER
 THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall  expire  and  be
 deemed repealed January 1, 2035.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.