Senator Gallivan's Votes for Week of March 30, 2021

The following bills were approved by the NYS Senate.  Senator Gallivan's vote is noted.

854A Enacts the "marihuana regulation and taxation act"; establishes the cannabis law; defines terms; establishes the New York state cannabis control board and the office of cannabis management; outlines powers and duties thereof; authorizes the lawful use of medical cannabis; authorizes research programs related thereto; establishes a cannabis research license to permit a licensee to produce, process, purchase and/or possess cannabis for certain limited research purposes; relates to adult-use cannabis; authorizes a person to apply for a license to cultivate, process, distribute, deliver or dispense cannabis for sale in this state; relates to the description of cannabis, and the growing of and use of cannabis by persons twenty-one years of age or older; makes technical changes regarding the definition of cannabis; relates to removing certain references to marijuana relating to forfeiture actions; relates to the qualification of certain offenses involving cannabis; exempts certain persons from prosecution for the use, consumption, display, production or distribution of cannabis; relates to the definition of smoking; provides for the licensure of persons authorized to produce, process and sell marihuana; relates to the criminal sale of cannabis; relates to drug paraphernalia; adds a new article on cannabis to the penal law; authorizes a motion for resentence for persons convicted of certain marihuana offenses; levies an excise tax on certain sales of cannabis; creates the New York state cannabis revenue fund, the New York state drug treatment and public education fund and the New York state community grants reinvestment fund.   NAY  (Public health and safety. Workplace safety concerns.)

5558 Authorizes the Manhasset union free school district and Manhasset public library to take certain actions to correct an understatement in the certification of the 2020-2021 tax levy of such library.  AYE

5943 Permits the Suffern central school district to move the date of their annual meeting and election for the 2021 year so that it does not conflict with religious observances; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof.  AYE

1416 Provides the commissioner of mental health may authorize the certification of recovery living residence and provide a list of such residences on the department of mental hygiene's website.  AYE

1453B Extends a moratorium on utility termination of services until December 31, 2021 or 180 after the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted or expires, whichever is earlier. B PRINT - includes cable and broadband companies.  AYE

1090  Extends the expiration of certain provisions of general municipal law, relating to granting localities greater contract flexibility to authorize shared purchasing to July 31, 2023. AYE

1827 Allows for the sale of liquor and/or wine for off-premises consumption on Christmas day.  AYE

482A This bill amends the Criminal Procedure Law governing jury deliberation procedures to permit that when the jury requests written instructions regarding trial information, the court may provide the jury with such written instructions as they deem proper. Provides for counsel to be heard prior to giving the jury such written instructions. A PRINT - changes effective date to 90 days.  AYE

4165A Amends the Executive Law to require that if a contracting State agency issues a MWBE compliance waiver, the issued waiver must be published on their website, in a location that is easily accessible to the public; and must include whether the compliance waiver was a partial or total waiver.  AYE  (Provides greater transparency.)

5081 Requires the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to provide to all prospective child day care providers applications and forms necessary to become a child day care provider in the following languages - English, French, Polish and the six most common nonEnglish languages spoken by individuals with limitedEnglish proficiency.  AYE 

2119 This bill establishes a new PHL section 575-a to authorize source plasma donation centers to collect source plasma using plasmapheresis, and may employ a person to perform total protein tests using digital refractometers, so long as the employee and center comply with all federal requirements governing the collection of source plasma. This includes, but is not limited to, staff supervision, training and requirements for performing protein tests using digital refractometers in a source plasma donation center. The bill further authorizes the Commissioner to establish regulations regarding registration as a source plasma donation center and the establishment of a reasonable registration fee.  AYE

1925 Adds violent crime rates and the density of vacant properties as conditions that can be used to justify the creation of a child safety zone.  AYE

5545 Relates to absentee ballots for school district elections during a declared disaster emergency; a voter can apply for an absentee ballot when they are unable to appear personally at the polling place of the school district in which they are a qualified voter because there is a risk of contracting or spreading a disease that may cause illness to the voter or to other members of the public. This bill sunsets on January 1, 2022.  AYE