Establishes the rural equity assistance program to promote and facilitate community and economic development in the small towns and rural areas of the state.
Eliminates state sales and compensating use taxes on motor fuels and diesel motor fuels; authorizes localities to eliminate such taxes at the local level; establishes various exemptions from New York's sales and use tax; provides for a sales tax exemption for housekeeping supplies and for ready-to-eat foods.
Prohibits a city, town, village or of a joint water district from imposing certain levies, charges, taxes or assessments on a property which uses private well water for its water supply; prohibits a city, town or village from imposing certain levies, charges, taxes or assessments on a property which uses a septic system for treatment of waste water.
Authorizes the empire state development corporation to develop a public awareness campaign promoting businesses located in New York state with an emphasis on small businesses and the need to shop in downtown local areas; requires the creation of the Buy New York Online Networking Directory to connect purchasers with businesses located in New York.
Maddy summaryThis bill requires health insurers to automatically approve preauthorization requests for specific medical services when healthcare professionals (like doctors or nurses) have received approval for at least 90% of similar requests in the past six months. It directly affects healthcare providers who work with participating insurers and ensures insurers must pay for covered services without delay or reduction once automatic approval is granted. Key provisions include annual reviews (by November 15th) to maintain approval status, a 30-day notice period before rescinding approvals, and a guarantee that insurers cannot deny payment for services covered under the automatic approval. The law aims to reduce administrative delays for providers while maintaining insurer oversight through retrospective reviews.
Requires age verification for internet pornography websites; imposes a $50,000 penalty per day for violations; provides exemptions for news organizations.
Maddy summaryThis bill exempts New York state resident veterans certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense as receiving disability payments for war-related injuries from paying tolls on the New York State Thruway. It amends two laws: the Public Authorities Law to allow the Thruway Authority to create rules for this exemption, and the Vehicle and Traffic Law to explicitly prohibit toll charges for qualifying veterans. The exemption applies only to veterans with disabilities incurred during wartime, as verified by federal agencies. The Thruway Authority must implement these changes by the bill's effective date.
Provides free hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses for residents who participated in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup and who suffered a permanent disability.
Increases the applicable percentage of the child tax credit allowed in the empire state child tax credit from thirty-three percent to forty-five percent; prescribes how such payment or refund should be made based on amount.
Maddy summaryThis bill (A 5681) changes voting rules for New York's Public Authorities Control Board. It grants voting rights to members appointed based on recommendations from minority leaders of the state Senate and Assembly - previously they were non-voting with only their comments recorded. The board will now require unanimous votes from all voting members (including these newly empowered minority-recommended members) for decisions. This affects the board's internal operations but does not alter its composition or core responsibilities.
