Harckham Finishes 2024 with 22 of His Bills Signed into Law

Albany, NY – New York State Senator Pete Harckham concluded 2024 as another productive year yet in terms of having legislation he introduced being passed and signed into law, with 22 of his bills receiving signatures from the Governor. Since taking office in 2019, 125 of Harckham’s bills have been passed by the State Legislature and signed into law.

Additionally, Harckham guided 24 bills into law through the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee during his second year as its chair.

“My work in the New York State Legislature is focused on making New York more affordable and more sustainable,” said Harckham. “The legislation that I sponsored and cosponsored this year helped safeguard our communities while protecting public health and fighting climate change.”

Added Harckham, “I am grateful to Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and my colleagues in the State Legislature for their support and hard work in ensuring that these bills moved to the governor’s desk.”

In total, Harckham was the prime sponsor on 202 bills that were introduced or amended, an increase from last year’s total of 187 and 176 from 2022. The State Senate approved 67 of these bills and the full State Legislature approved 30 in 2024. 

Notable among Harckham’s bills signed into law this year were:

• S.5331A expands the food donation and food recycling program statewide by scaling down the annual average tonnage requirement every two years for excess food generators and businesses;
• S.7781A directs the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) to establish a heat mitigation plan for its correctional facilities and directs a work group to analyze the impact of escalating temperatures due to climate change in those facilities on the incarcerated individuals, corrections officers and staff members;
• S.5969A allows young adults to continue to receive the specialized care afforded them as children once they have attained the age of 21 through the age of 36. Although New York State enacted a law in 2021 to allow for the construction of two new specialized care facilities for the children aging out of the system at age 21, these facilities are not yet operational, and they likely will not have the capacity to serve all the State's eligible population in any event. Currently, there are only six specialized care facilities for these medically fragile residents who are 21 and over;
• S.8506A requires realtors and those selling homes to provide septic system information to new owners when applicable premises are sold. This will help prevent septic system mismanagement, a public health risk;
• S.9322 which extends until September 2027 the 50% subsidy to municipalities to construct and upgrade eligible water pollution control projects. The subsidy is granted through the Environmental Facilities Corporation together with the DEC. 
• S.9825 extends the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act until January 2026 in order to keep this dangerous neurotoxin element out of the environment;
• S.9342 allows retailers to repair damaged pesticide containers before sale, addressing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimate that suggests up to five million pounds of consumer pesticide products may be wasted due to containers that are damaged before sale;
• S.8644A permits hunters to present electronic copies of their licenses instead of requiring physical ones, a common-sense practice already adopted by several other states; and
• S.9341 extends the ban on stainless steel circular hooks for shark fishing to protect sharks from long-term injury even after release.

In addition to legislation addressing statewide issues, Sen. Harckham sponsored a number of new laws to support local first-responder agencies and local governments:

• S.8505 provides for the incorporation of the Bedford Hills Fire Department Benevolent Association;.
• S.9207 which incorporates Volunteer and Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Association of Millwood, New York;
• S.9546 authorizes the Mount Kisco Fire Department’ benevolence association to use fire insurance premium taxes to help members;
• S.9212A allows the Town of Yorktown to alienate and discontinue use of parkland toward the acquisition of new parkland;
• S.9219B permits the Town of Kent to lease some of its ballfield fences for advertisements, the revenue solely going toward the care of Guglielmo Field; and
• S.9825 authorizes a hotel occupancy tax for the Town of Ossining.

For complete information on all legislation sponsored by Sen. Harckham, please visit: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/pete-harckham/legislation.