S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1565
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 10, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, HEVESI, MEEKS, TAYLOR, EPSTEIN, SIMON,
   SIMONE,  LEVENBERG,  MAMDANI,  SEAWRIGHT, REYES, KELLES, TAPIA -- read
   once and referred to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law and the  executive  law,  in  relation  to
   designating offenses against homeless persons as hate crimes

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 the "homeless protection act".
   §  2.  Subdivisions  1, 2 and 4 of section 485.05 of the penal law, as
 amended by chapter 8 of the  laws  of  2019,  are  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   1.  A person commits a hate crime when [he or she] SUCH PERSON commits
 a specified offense and either:
   (a) intentionally selects the  person  against  whom  the  offense  is
 committed  or  intended  to be committed in whole or in substantial part
 because of a belief or perception regarding the  race,  color,  national
 origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, reli-
 gious  practice, age, disability, HOMELESSNESS, or sexual orientation of
 a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or
   (b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense  in
 whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
 the  race,  color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or
 expression, religion, religious practice, age, disability, HOMELESSNESS,
 or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the  belief  or
 perception is correct.
   2.  Proof  of  race,  color, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender
 identity or expression, religion, religious practice,  age,  disability,
 HOMELESSNESS,  or  sexual orientation of the defendant, the victim or of
 both the defendant and the victim does not, by itself, constitute legal-

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04221-01-5
 A. 1565                             2
              

 
 ly sufficient evidence satisfying the people's  burden  under  paragraph
 (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this section.
   4. For purposes of this section:
   (a) the term "age" means sixty years old or more;
   (b)  the  term "disability" means a physical or mental impairment that
 substantially limits a major life activity;
   (c) the term "gender identity or expression" means a  person's  actual
 or  perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression,
 or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to
 that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
 transgender[.]; AND
   (D) THE TERM "HOMELESSNESS" MEANS THE SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH AN
 INDIVIDUAL OR FAMILY LACKS A  FIXED,  REGULAR,  AND  ADEQUATE  NIGHTTIME
 RESIDENCE,  RESIDES  IN A PLACE NOT DESIGNED FOR OR ORDINARILY USED AS A
 REGULAR SLEEPING ACCOMMODATION FOR HUMAN BEINGS, SUCH AS A  CAR,  PUBLIC
 SIDEWALK  OR  STREET,  HALLWAY,  BUS  OR TRAIN STATION, LOBBY OR SIMILAR
 PLACE, RESIDES IN A RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
 OR RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS YOUTH, OR RESIDES IN A  SUPERVISED  PUBLICLY  OR
 PRIVATELY OPERATED SHELTER DESIGNED TO PROVIDE TEMPORARY LIVING ARRANGE-
 MENTS,  INCLUDING HOTELS AND MOTELS PAID FOR BY FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL
 GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS OR BY CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS, CONGREGATE SHELTERS,
 SAFE HAVENS OR TRANSITIONAL HOUSING.
   § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4-c of section 837 of the  executive
 law,  as  amended by chapter 118 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read
 as follows:
   (a) In cooperation with the chief administrator of the courts as  well
 as  any  other public or private agency, including law enforcement agen-
 cies, collect, maintain, analyze and make  public  statistical  and  all
 other  information  and  data  with respect to the number of hate crimes
 reported to or investigated by the division of  state  police,  and  all
 other  police  or peace officers, the number of persons arrested for the
 commission of  such  crimes,  the  offense  for  which  the  person  was
 arrested,  the  demographic data of the victim or victims of such crimes
 including, but not limited to, race, color, national  origin,  ancestry,
 gender,  gender  identity  or  expression, religion, religious practice,
 age, disability, HOMELESSNESS or sexual orientation  of  a  person,  the
 demographic data of the person or persons arrested for the commission of
 such crimes including, but not limited to, race, color, national origin,
 ancestry,  gender,  gender  identity  or expression, religion, religious
 practice, age, disability,  HOMELESSNESS  or  sexual  orientation  of  a
 person,  the  county within which the arrest was made and the accusatory
 instrument filed, the disposition of the  accusatory  instrument  filed,
 including, but not limited to, as the case may be, dismissal, acquittal,
 the  offense to which the defendant pled guilty, the offense the defend-
 ant was convicted  of  after  trial,  and  the  sentence  imposed.  Data
 collected  shall  be  used for research or statistical purposes only and
 shall not contain information that may reveal the identity of any  indi-
 vidual.  The division shall include the statistics and other information
 required by this subdivision in an annual report submitted to the gover-
 nor, the speaker of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate,
 the chair of the assembly codes committee, the chair of the senate codes
 committee, the attorney general and the chief  administrative  judge  of
 the  office  of  court  administration.  Such  annual reports shall be a
 public record.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.