Establishes a nonprofit news media jobs grant program within the newspaper and broadcast media jobs program to provide grants to support certain nonprofit media organizations which increase employees.
Maddy summaryThis bill (A 9571) increases family leave benefits under New York's workers' compensation law, directly affecting eligible employees taking leave for medical care, bonding with a newborn, or military family exigencies. It gradually raises weekly benefit percentages (from 50% to 67% of average weekly wage) and extends maximum leave duration (from 8 to 12 weeks) over time, with specific phased-in dates starting in 2018. Covered employers must provide these enhanced benefits while maintaining health insurance coverage during leave. The changes apply to employees meeting eligibility criteria under the law, with the Superintendent of Financial Services retaining limited authority to delay increases.
Maddy summaryThis bill requires health insurance plans and issuers to cover rehabilitation treatment for children diagnosed with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) when an attending physician certifies the medical necessity in writing. It directly affects children with PANS and their families, ensuring insurance coverage for necessary rehabilitation services. The key provision mandates that insurers provide this coverage without additional barriers, relying solely on physician certification rather than prior authorization for the treatment. The law applies to all health insurance policies issued, renewed, or modified on or after its effective date.
Enacts the "packaging reduction and recycling infrastructure act" to require companies selling, offering for sale, or distributing packaging materials and products to register with a packaging reduction organization to develop a packaging reduction and recycling plan; makes related provisions.
Establishes a standardized statewide system for collecting, recording, and monitoring winter road maintenance operational data in order to improve efficiency, enhance transparency, and support the protection of water resources in the state of New York; requires calibration of all deicing material application equipment used for winter highway maintenance on public roads.
Maddy summaryBill A 8063, known as the "child abuse reporting expansion act," makes clergy members and other ministers of any religion legally required reporters of suspected child abuse or maltreatment. These individuals must report if they have reasonable cause to suspect abuse based on information received in their professional capacity. However, the bill establishes an exception, stating that clergy are not required to report information shared with them in a religious confession or confidence, unless the person making the confession waives this privilege. If a clergy member suspects abuse through any other means, they are still obligated to promptly make a report.
Maddy summaryThis bill authorizes Alexander D. Rusin, a former seasonal employee of the Erie County Water Authority (2008), to join the New York state retirement system retroactively from June 2, 2008, after he missed enrollment due to circumstances beyond his control. To activate this, Rusin must submit a written request to the state comptroller within one year of the bill's effective date. The Erie County Water Authority bears all costs for this retroactive membership, and no past contributions made by Rusin will be refunded. The bill is procedural, affecting only this individual's retirement eligibility.
Enacts the "utility fair acquisition act", providing that in any acquisition by a municipal corporation or a public benefit corporation created pursuant to article 5 of the public authorities law of infrastructure operated by a public utility company or private energy provider, the appraised value shall be reduced by the value of infrastructure that was financed through customer user fees, ratepayer surcharges, or other non-investor-funded mechanisms as determined by the public service commission.
Maddy summaryThis bill updates the state's alcohol tax laws to use the gallon as the standard unit of measurement instead of the liter. The primary change affects how taxes are calculated and recorded for distributors, retailers, and producers of alcoholic beverages. Under the new rules, tax rates for different types of liquor will be expressed in dollars per gallon rather than dollars per liter, and business records must track quantities in gallons. Additionally, the threshold for assuming a person is selling alcohol for profit is raised to 24 gallons, and tax exemptions for small personal imports are adjusted to reflect this gallon-based standard.
Extends the effectiveness of certain provisions of the coordinated construction act for lower Manhattan relating to joint bidding on contracts for public work projects.
