Votes in the NYS Senate for the Week of April 29, 2019

The bills listed below were voted on this week in the New York State Senate.  The legislation is listed by bill number and includes a short description, followed by Senator Gallivan's vote.  You can access each bill individually at the links provided below.

#S2665  Prohibits the imposition of any charge or fee on the telephone bill of a consumer when such fee or charge is imposed by a third party, unless the consumer explicitly agrees to the nature and amount of such fee or charge; makes the unauthorized imposition of such a fee void and unenforceable; directs the public service commission to enforce such provisions.

AYE

#S2038A  This bill provides that a qualified voter in school district election may vote as an absentee voter if during all the hours of voting on the day of an election if they are: absent from the county of residence, ill or physical disability, caring for an ill or disabled individual, an inmate, a patient of a veteran's administration hospital, detained in jail awaiting action by a grand jury or awaiting trial, or in jail or prison for an offense other than a felony, provided they are still qualified to vote in the election district of their residence.

NAY  (No certification procedure to establish citizenship or to identify if a person is 18 years of age.)

#S578  Requires the commissioner of taxation and finance to allow distillers and brewers to file their taxes electronically.

AYE

#S4007  This bill would reduce the probationary period before tenure can be granted from four years to three years for principals, administrators, supervisors and all other members of the supervising staff of Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) and school districts who have achieved tenure in another school district or BOCES and who are appointed to a probationary status in another common, central, union free, city school district or BOCES after July 1, 2015.

AYE

#S3348  The purpose of this bill is to allow service of process on the Secretary of State in New York City in addition to Albany.

AYE

#S2958A  Requires information on concussions and sub-concussive blows to be provided to all parents of children playing tackle football.

AYE

#S2100A  Requires the department of environmental conservation to report on coyote management techniques in urban and suburban areas. This "A" print removes from evaluated methods on how to reduce the coyote population.

NAY  (Continues to exclude rural areas of NYS)

#S3657B  Establishes the aging in place task force, and provides for its powers and duties.

AYE

#S1876A  The bill would create a process through which the state and its localities are notified of the pending abandonment of state regulated cemeteries. This notice allows time to work towards a reorganization of the cemetery corporation to prevent abandonment, and helps to provide an orderly transition, if necessary, to municipal control to limit fiscal impacts on local governments.

AYE

#S4264  This legislation would require Westchester County Board of Elections stay open until midnight on the last day of a filing period.

AYE

#S3301  Authorizes licensed authorized organizations to conduct certain poker tournaments as licensed games of chance fundraisers.

AYE

#S4161  Authorizes the assessor of the town of Huntington, county of Suffolk, to accept from the South Huntington Union Free School District an application for exemption from real property taxes.

AYE

#S4496  Creates a recovery living task force to establish best practice guidelines for recovery living residents that illustrate the most appropriate and effective environment for persons recovering from a chemical dependency.

AYE

#S181  Identifies the criteria the commissioner of environmental conservation should consider in publishing a list of high local environmental impact zones; provides that high local environmental impact zones are areas most adversely affected by existing environmental hazards. List must be published every 2 years.

AYE

#S2139B  Prohibits the sale of mercury-added lamps (which means an electric lamp that contains mercury or mercury compounds intentionally added during the manufacturing process) after January 1, 2021 that fail to meet mercury content standards.

AYE

#S2072  Amends the State Constitution's bill of rights to include a right to clean air and water and a healthful environment.

NAY (Opens the door to unlimited litigation and is too broad)

#S25A  This legislation enacts the "bird friendly building council act" that would consist of 14 members, 12 of which shall be appointed by the DEC commissioner, one appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and one appointed by the President of the Senate. The members would consistof wildlife conservation organizations, state and federal wildlife agencies, architects, window manufacturers and distributors, commercial building managers and academia.

NAY

#S2767  Encourages the expansion of the production of fresh fruits and vegetables by community gardens; directs the state and municipalities to develop more and safer bike lanes and multiple use trails so as to encourage physical activity and reduce carbon emissions.

AYE

#S3829  Provides that no person, corporation, partnership or limited liability company shall knowingly sell any food product advertised or labeled as "local" unless such food product originated in New York or meets other guidelines established for retail food products.

AYE

#S4046  This bill would require jewelry containing 40 parts/million of lead to carry a warning that the jewelry "may be harmful if eaten or chewed." This would notify consumers or parents of children wearing such jewelry that a potential hazard exists.

AYE

#S4742A  The bill would amend the Real Property Law by prohibiting homeowners' associations from adopting or enforcing any rules that would effectively prohibit or impose unreasonable limitations on the installation or use of solar power systems.

NAY (An imposition on choice of homeowners)

#S501B  This bill establishes a list of dangerous and chemicals of concern in children's (under age 12) products.

NAY (Not necessary. Already regulated at the Federal level)

#S354A  Relates to water saving performance standards; aligns water saving performance standards with the WaterSense Program guidelines developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

AYE

#S752 Relates to increasing the tax credit provided for solar energy system equipment from $5,000 to $10,000.

AYE

#S5098  Requires the department of environmental conservation to designate certain species as vulnerable species and prohibits the sale of articles made from any part of a vulnerable species; and requires the department to designate the giraffe as a vulnerable species.

NAY (If lawful elsewhere, not right to place such restrictions of NY citizens)

#S5343  Relates to prohibiting the use of chlorpyrifos by aerial application by January 1, 2020; prohibits all use except for apple tree trunks by January 1, 2021 and prohibits any use of chlorpyrifos by December 1, 2021. Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide.

NAY (Currently regulated by EPA and a decision by EPA regarding use of this pesticide is due July 18)

#S5349  Makes a chapter amendment to the regulation of toxic chemicals in children's products; defines "trace contaminant".

NAY (No chapter to amend as Senate bill 501b, which this bill purports to amend, has yet to be acted on by the Governor. Should be done at the federal level.)

#S2042  This is a chapter amendment that makes changes to provisions of L.2018, c.459, to clarify provisions relating to the appointment and promotion of supervisors of the emergency medical service.

AYE

#S3872A  Relates to the geriatric demonstration program to promote mental health and home care collaboration; authorizes the commissioner of mental health and the commissioner of health to waive rules and regulations to address barriers to collaboration by mental health providers and providers of home care services; provides further that regulations pertaining to patient safety may not be waived, nor shall regulations be waived if such waiver would risk patient safety.

AYE

#S2734  This bill amends the Limited Liability Company Law to provide that the 10 largest members of a foreign limited liability company shall be jointly and severally personally liable for unpaid debts, wages and salaries owed to any of its laborers or employees for work performed inNew York. This is the rule for domestic limited liability companies.

AYE

#S2405  Relates to the listing of county and city veterans' service agencies; requires the division of veterans' affairs to list information for local veterans' service agencies on its website and to provide such information in its annual report to the governor and legislature.

AYE

#S3300  This bill would help realize the promise of section 55-c (the section of law which allows state agencies to set aside certain state positions which are to be filled by disabled veterans) by requiring that all state agencies must prominently identify on a job posting that is set aside under section 55-c, that such job is "55-c Eligible".

AYE

#S2960  This bill would require a mandatory "school bus safety" education component within the pre-licensing course as a prerequisite for obtaining a license.

AYE

#S1089  This bill would include 529 college saving program plans on the list of resources that would be excluded when determining an individual's eligibility to obtain public assistance.

NAY (Tuition assistance already available to those in need)

#S2328  This bill would authorize any employee who requests to have his or her salary directlydeposited in a bank, with the option to receive an electronic confirmation that the direct deposit has been completed, instead of receiving a paper pay stub. A notice of the electronic confirmation system shall be provided in each employee's paper pay stub.

AYE

#S2669  This bill would amend chapter 28 of the laws of 2017 (which amends section 1210 of the tax law) to continue the state authorization for the City of White Plains to collect their currently state authorized rate of sales and use tax until August 31, 2021.

AYE

#S4492  The bill would provide for the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Office of Mental Health to complete a study and report on a proposed extension of the Long Island Motor Parkway east from Winchester Boulevard to Little Neck Parkway in the county of Queens.

AYE

#S1456  This bill would prohibit the purchase of any two or more components that are advertised and sold together with instructions on how to combine them to produce an explosive device, without a certificate issued by the Commissioner of Labor. It would also assess a $50 application fee and prohibit the sale of such to any person under 18 years of age.

NAY  (Will have a negative impact on sportsmen)

#S4573  This bill would decrease the length of the suspension period applicable to certain individuals who lose their jobs due to a labor dispute, such as a strike, and who seek to obtain unemployment insurance benefits.

AYE

#S3358A  The bill would amend the New York City Administrative Code, and Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974, the Emergency Housing Rent Control Law, and the Real Property Law by prohibiting any landlord from charging legal services fees in connection with the operation or rental of a residential unit unless awarded pursuant to a Court Order.

NAY (Should be subject to lease/contracts)

#S3558A  Increases the penalties for overtaking and passing a school bus.

AYE

#S4385  This bill would amend the law to allow the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, the Governors Traffic Safety Committee, the Department of Education and Transportation, the Division of State Police, and the State Comprehensive School Bus Driver Safety Council to design and implement a program to educate motorists of the dangers of passing a school bus.

AYE