NY State Senate Bill 2021-S8755

Senate Bill S8755

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Requires the reimbursement of students who were disenrolled from the state university of New York or the city university of New York due to their COVID-19 vaccination status

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Higher Education 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

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 11, 2022	referred to higher education

2021-S8755 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9565
Current Committee:: Senate Higher Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Add §224-b, Ed L

2021-S8755 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires the reimbursement of students who were disenrolled from the state university of New York or the city university of New York for the fall 2021 term due to their COVID-19 vaccination status.

2021-S8755 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8755

SPONSOR: BORRELLO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the
reimbursement of students who were disenrolled from the state university
of New York or the city university of New York for the fall two thousand
twenty-one term due to their COIVD-19 vaccination status

 
PURPOSE::

To compensate SUNY students who were unjustly penalized for their fail-
ure to comply with vaccination requirements within the sanctioned 35-day
grace period.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::

Section 1 of the education law is amended to include section 244-b which
Would allow reimbursement for SUNY students attending an institution of
higher learning who were disenrolled due to their COVID vaccination
status for any cost of enrollment and, for any term they were disen-

rolled from.,

Section 2 sets forth the effective date

 
JUSTIFICATION::

On August 23rd, the State University of New York made an announcement
that all SUNY students must be vaccinated to remain enrolled.  Students
were given a 35-day grace period from the time of the announcement to
get vaccinated or submit exemption forms, meaning they only had until
September 27th to comply.

According to communications with the SUNY Vice Chancellor for Government
Affairs and Marketing, in fall 2021, SUNY received a total of 8,134
exemption requests (7,048 religious, and 1,086 medical).  74.5, were
approved, and 1,516 students were disenrolled, some who requested
exemptions, some who did not.

Other state university systems handled this much differently. Florida
State Universities, for example, strongly recommend vaccination but have
no vaccination requirements for enrollment. The same can be said for
Arizona State Universities and all but 8 of the more than 70 colleges
and universities in. Georgia.

While many private schools in New York also had vaccination require-
ments, their announcements about the mandate came out earlier than
SUNYS, allowing students the time necessary to make difficult decisions
about their future. For Barnard College, the announcement was made on
April 19th of 2021, with requirements not to go into effect until the
fall semester. NYU and Columbia University also announced vaccine
mandates on this same day. Students attending private universities were
given much more time to weigh their options and make a choice that
impacts their future so heavily. Students attending SUNY schools were
not given the same liberties.

The 35-day grace period did not give SUNY students enough time to comply
with SUNY's vaccine mandateS or their exemption process.  Additionally,
students who did not get approved for an exemption and decided not to
comply should not be financially faulted because of a personal, medical
decision.

Communications, N. Y. U. W. (2021, April 19). Important information:
Summary update of COVID-related developments at NYU. NYU. Retrieved from

HTTPS://WWW.NYCLEDU/ABOUT/LEADERSHIP-
UNIVERSITY-ADRNINISTRATION/OFFICE-OF-THE-PRESIDENT/
OFFICE-OF-THE-PROVOST/PROVOSTIAL-COMMUNICATIONS/IMPORT ANT-INFORMATION-
SUMMARY-UPDATE.:.OF-COVID-RELATED- DEVELOPMENTS-AT-NYU.HTML

Coronavirus. Florida State University News. (2022, February 14).
Retrieved from

HTTPS://NEWS.FSU.EDU/TAG/CORONAVIRUS/

Covid-19 vaccination policy - suny.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved from

HTTPS://WWW.SUNY.EDU/SUNVPP/DOCUMENTS.CFM?DOCID=900

Covid-19 vaccine fags. COVID-19 vaccine: FAQ I Educational Outreach and
Student Services. (n.d.). Retrieved from

HTTS://EOSS.ASU.EDU/HEALTH/ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORONAVIRUS/VACCINE-FAQS

Covid-19 vaccine requirement for students, fall 2021. COVID. (2021, May
11). Retrieved from

HTTPS://COVID19.COLUMBIA.EDU/NEWS/COVID-19- VACCINE-REQUIREMENT-STU-
DENTS-FALL-2021

NBCUniversal News Group. (2021', August 25). Confusing rules, loopholes
and legal issues: College vaccination plans are a mess.  NBCNews.com.
Retrieved from

HTTPS://WWWw.NBCNEWS.COMINEWS/US-NEWS/
CONFUSING-RULES-LOOPHOLES-LEGAL-ISSUES-COLLEGEVACCINATION-PLANS-
ARE-MESS-N1267901

Student vaccination requirement for fall 2021. Barnard College. (2021,
April 19). Retrieved from

HTTPS://BANIARD.EDU/NEWS/STUDENT-VACCINATION- REQUIREMENT-FALL-2021

SUNY mandates COVID-19 vaccine shots for students.  spectrumlocal-
news.com. (2021, August 23). Retrieved from

HTTPS://SPECTRUMLOCALNEWS.COM/NYS/CENTRAL-
NY/NEWS/2021/08/23/SUNY-MANDATES-COVID-19-VACCINE-SHOTS-ON-CAMPUSES-

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::

None.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::

Cost of reimbursement.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE::

This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S8755 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8755
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 11, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. BORRELLO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
 
 AN ACT to  amend  the  education  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  the
   reimbursement  of students who were disenrolled from the state univer-
   sity of New York or the city university of New York for the  fall  two
   thousand twenty-one term due to their COIVD-19 vaccination status
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section  224-b
 to read as follows:
   § 224-B. REIMBURSEMENT  FOR  DISENROLLMENT DUE TO COVID-19 VACCINATION
 STATUS. ANY PERSON WHO WAS DISENROLLED FROM THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF  NEW
 YORK  OR THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK FOR THE FALL TWO THOUSAND TWEN-
 TY-ONE TERM DUE TO THEIR COVID-19 VACCINATION STATUS SHALL BE REIMBURSED
 BY SUCH INSTITUTION FOR ANY COSTS OF ENROLLMENT PAID BY SUCH PERSON  FOR
 SUCH TERM.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14830-04-2

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