Important Bills Passed This Week: Transparency in Legislative Proceedings, Athletic Staff Mandated Reporters of Abuse, and More!

Increase Transparancy in Legislative Proceedings: Senate Bill S.3046-C would mandate that all committee meetings and Senate sessions be live   webcast and archived, and that all votes of the legislative houses be posted on their respective websites within 24 hours of voting.

Harsher Penalties Who Endanger Children's Ride To School: Current law provides for the suspension of a driver’s license for the repeated offense of speeding in a construction zone in an effort to prevent injury and death of road workers. No such penalty is imposed for passing a stopped school bus. Senate bill S.1878 would make two or more counts of passing a stopped school bus within ten years punishable by a 60 day suspension of driving privileges.

School Athletic Staff As Mandated Reporters of Child Abuse: Mandated reporting laws are designed to ensure that teachers, schools administrators, and others who frequently supervise children in work environments report any and all signs of child abuse that meet reporting guidelines. The laws also protect those “mandated reporters” from legal backlash that might otherwise result from reporting cases where child abuse was determined to have not occurred. Current New York law is ambiguous and does not specifically include several categories of employment that work with children. S.4751-A would include school athletic directors and all school personnel required to hold a temporary coaching license or professional coaching certificate to the list of mandated reporters.