Senate Bill S1381A

Signed By Governor
2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires proposed amendment to the constitution or other question provided by law to be submitted to a statewide vote be submitted to the people for their approval in plain language

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - Signed by Governor


  • 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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Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2023-S1381 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A1722
Law Section:
Election Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§4-108 & 4-116, El L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:
A10708

2023-S1381 - Summary

Requires a proposed amendment to the constitution or other question provided by law to be submitted to a statewide vote be submitted to the people for their approval in plain language which is deemed to be no higher than an eighth grade reading level.

2023-S1381 - Sponsor Memo

2023-S1381 - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1381
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 11, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the  form  in  which  a
   proposed  amendment  to the constitution or other question provided by
   law to be submitted to a statewide vote  shall  be  submitted  to  the
   people for their approval
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 1-104 of the election law is amended  by  adding  a
 new subdivision 40 to read as follows:
   40. (A) THE TERM "PLAIN LANGUAGE" WHEN APPLIED TO ANY STATEMENT OF THE
 FORM IN WHICH A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OR OTHER QUESTION
 PROVIDED  BY  LAW  TO  BE  SUBMITTED  TO A STATEWIDE VOTE APPEARS ON THE
 BALLOT SHALL MEAN A STATEMENT  WHICH,  IN  ADDITION  TO  SATISFYING  THE
 REQUIREMENTS  SET  FORTH  IN  PARAGRAPH  D OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF SECTION
 4-108 OF THIS CHAPTER: (I) SCORES NO HIGHER THAN EIGHTH GRADE OR "GOOD",
 AS INDICATED BY A SCORE OF A NINE ON  THE  AUTOMATED  READING  INDEX  AS
 CALCULATED  PURSUANT  TO  THE FORMULA SET FORTH IN PARAGRAPH (B) OF THIS
 SUBDIVISION, (II) CONTAINS NO MORE  THAN  ONE  PASSIVE  SENTENCE,  (III)
 AVOIDS THE USE OF SEMICOLONS, USING MULTIPLE SENTENCES AS NECESSARY, AND
 (IV) DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY DOUBLE NEGATIVES.
   (B)  THE  AUTOMATED READING INDEX SHALL BE CALCULATED ACCORDING TO THE
 FOLLOWING FORMULA:
   (I) DIVIDE THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS BY THE NUMBER OF WORDS AND  MULTI-
 PLY THAT NUMBER BY 4.71.
   (II)  DIVIDE THE NUMBER OF WORDS BY THE NUMBER OF SENTENCES AND MULTI-
 PLY THAT NUMBER BY 0.5.
   (III) ADD THE RESULTS FROM SUBPARAGRAPHS (I) AND (II)  OF  THIS  PARA-
 GRAPH.
   (IV)  SUBTRACT  21.43  FROM  THE  RESULT OF SUBPARAGRAPH (III) OF THIS
 PARAGRAPH AND ROUND TO THE NEAREST WHOLE NUMBER.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02790-01-3
              

co-Sponsors

2023-S1381A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A1722
Law Section:
Election Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§4-108 & 4-116, El L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:
A10708

2023-S1381A (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires a proposed amendment to the constitution or other question provided by law to be submitted to a statewide vote be submitted to the people for their approval in plain language which is deemed to be no higher than an eighth grade reading level.

2023-S1381A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2023-S1381A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  1381--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 11, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. COMRIE, SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to  the  Committee  on  Elections  --
   committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
   recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to the  form  in  which  a
   proposed  amendment  to the constitution or other question provided by
   law to be submitted to a statewide vote  shall  be  submitted  to  the
   people for their approval
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1.  Paragraph d of subdivision 1 and subdivisions 2 and  3  of
 section  4-108  of  the  election  law, paragraph d of subdivision 1 and
 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 136 of the laws of 1978 and subdivi-
 sion 3 as added by chapter 234 of the laws of 1976, are amended and four
 new subdivisions 4, 5, 6 and 7 are added to read as follows:
   d. In addition to the text, such transmittal shall contain an abstract
 of such proposed amendment, proposition or  question,  prepared  by  the
 state board of elections [concisely stating the purpose and effect ther-
 eof  in a clear and coherent manner using words with common and everyday
 meanings] IN PLAIN LANGUAGE.
   2. The form in which the proposed amendment, proposition  or  question
 is  to  be submitted shall consist [of] only [an abbreviated title indi-
 cating generally and briefly, and in a clear and coherent  manner  using
 words  with  common  and  every-day  meanings, the subject matter of the
 amendment, proposition or question] OF THE FOLLOWING: A.  A  DESCRIPTIVE
 TITLE  OF  UP  TO  FIFTEEN  WORDS,  WHICH  DESCRIBES THE TOPIC, GOAL, OR
 OUTCOME OF THE BALLOT QUESTION IN PLAIN LANGUAGE; B. A  SUMMARY  OF  THE
 TEXT  BALLOT  PROPOSAL OF UP TO THIRTY WORDS, WRITTEN IN PLAIN LANGUAGE,
 THAT DESCRIBES THE CHANGE IN POLICY TO BE  ADOPTED  AND  NOT  THE  LEGAL
 MECHANISM;  AND  C.  A STATEMENT OF WHAT A YES OR NO VOTE MEANS IN UP TO
 THIRTY WORDS WRITTEN IN PLAIN LANGUAGE  THAT  IDENTIFIES  THE  PRACTICAL
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02790-03-3
              

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