Asm. Pat Burke

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits the culinary practice of ikizukuri (also called ikezukuri), which involves preparing sashimi from seafood while the fish is still alive. It directly affects restaurants, chefs, and food preparers within the state who currently use this method. The law adds a new provision to the public health code making ikizukuri unlawful, effective 30 days after enactment. The bill does not address other seafood preparation methods or include enforcement details beyond the prohibition.

Creates a Great Lakes and state waters bill of rights that declares the right of the Great Lakes and state waters to exist, flourish and naturally evolve.

Removes party lines from ballots and has candidates' names appearing only once on a ballot for an office for all elections that are not presidential or gubernatorial.

Establishes the teachers' fossil fuel divestment act; requires the New York state teachers' retirement system to divest the retirement system of any stocks, securities, equities, assets, or other obligations of corporations or companies included on an exclusion list of coal producers and oil and gas producers.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires election commissioners serving on county boards outside New York City to be full-time employees of those boards. It sets a standard of two commissioners per board, with counties having over 120,000 residents allowed to increase this to four via local law. The change applies specifically to election boards in counties outside NYC, altering their commissioner employment structure without affecting NYC-based boards.

Provides for automatic voter registration and pre-registration for persons applying for certain department of motor vehicles documentation, and for persons applying for or re-enrolling in Medicaid; allows individuals to decline such automatic registration and pre-registration.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A 3803) requires landlords to pay tenants a fee equal to one month's rent when evicting them without a valid legal reason ("no cause eviction"). The fee applies to standard rental agreements (excluding owner-occupied buildings under four units, regulated housing, or specific sublet situations) and must be paid directly to the tenant, excluding security deposits. Landlords may only evict without cause for limited reasons like non-payment of rent (with restrictions on unreasonable increases), lease violations after notice, illegal activity, or personal occupancy needs. The law aims to provide financial compensation for tenants facing unjustified displacement.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows courts in counties not fully within a city to conduct electronic court appearances (arraignments) instead of requiring defendants to attend in person. It requires defendants to provide written consent, ensures personal attendance wouldn't cause unreasonable delay, and mandates approval from the chief administrator of courts. Electronic arraignments cannot be used for guilty pleas, recordings are restricted, and stenographic records must be kept. It directly affects defendants in rural or non-city counties who would otherwise need to travel for their court appearance.

Maddy summaryThis bill automatically grants Medicaid eligibility to workers participating in strikes or labor disputes, directly affecting those who would otherwise lose coverage during such work stoppages. It requires Medicaid coverage to be limited to the duration of the strike, with no requirement to count personal resources toward medical costs. The health commissioner must establish regulations for eligibility, covered services, and a process for temporary "presumptive eligibility" based on preliminary information from qualified entities. The policy change takes effect immediately upon enactment.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a tax exemption for sales and installation of geothermal heat pump systems in both residential and commercial buildings. It exempts from sales tax the equipment and installation services for systems that use ground or groundwater for heating, cooling, and hot water - excluding recreational facilities. The exemption applies to residential systems (defined in new paragraph 47) and commercial systems (defined in new subdivision mm) under New York's tax law. Local governments may choose whether to apply these exemptions, as the bill modifies existing tax code provisions to include them.