Harckham Passes 56 Bills in Productive 2022 State Senate Session

Albany, NY – With a focus on bolstering residents and small businesses financially in a post-pandemic economy, protecting the environment against climate change and fighting the opioid overdose crisis to save lives, New York State Senator Pete Harckham completed his chamber’s annual session early this morning—his most productive since taking office in 2019. 

Of the bills Harckham introduced in 2022, the Senate approved 56 bills, the full State Legislature approved 32 and Governor Kathy Hochul has signed five into law already, with more executive approvals to come. 

“The challenges we have faced and worked to surmount together since the Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020 have proven our resilience and ability to solve problems while helping our communities grow stronger,” said Harckham. “While there is still so much more to do, this Senate session continued upon the path of real progress on so many important issues, thanks to Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and my Senate colleagues. I am proud of my accomplishments this past year, and those of my colleagues as well, but this is no time to grow complacent. I’m looking forward to the next legislative session in 2023.”

The five Harckham bills approved by the Legislature and signed into law are:

• S.7693 Creates a Council of Equity within the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports to ensure that all residents receive proper treatment for Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
• S.7706 Requires the state’s Veteran Services division to encourage temporary shelters and care facilities to share information that will increase veterans’ access to benefits
• S.7788 Provides that all in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks shall be zero-emissions by 2035
• S.7812 Helps defines which supermarkets are eligible to donate excess food to soup kitchens and food banks
• S.7888 Makes contact details of education and training programs for home health aide competency exams available on the Department of Health website.

A number of Harckham’s bills dealt with helping residents and small businesses financially, like S.8942, an extension of the real property tax exemption task force, and S.7671, which includes spent nuclear fuel rods as part of real property to be taxed. 

Three major bills to protect our water sources, one that protects Class C streams and fragile drinking water supplies, another requiring insurance information from pipeline developers and a third dealing with the application of pesticides, joined by Harckham’s three zero emission bills (cars, buses, landscaping equipment), were emblematic of his long concern for the environment and acknowledgement of our climate change crisis.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, Harckham introduced 23 opioid crisis / Substance Use Disorder related bills in 2022, two of which—S.7378A requiring the Department of Health to publish sales figures of opioids on its website, and S.8219A instituting an annual report from the independent substance use and mental health ombudsman—have been approved by the State Legislature.

Since 2019 Harckham has introduced 81 opioid crisis / Substance Use Disorder related bills.

Also ready for the governor’s signature are a number of bills aimed at helping local municipalities in different ways:

• Incorporating the Croton Falls Volunteer Fire Department Benevolent Association
• Renaming a courtroom in Putnam Supreme and County Court for Judge James F. Reitz
• Activating the 2-1-1 NYS helpline during disaster emergencies
• Imposing an occupancy tax for hotels in Mount Kisco 
• Aiding residential parking in Croton-on-Hudson

Currently, there are 32 bills passed by both houses that are eligible for the governor’s signature.