Asm. Alicia Hyndman

Establishes the incentive and career exclusion for officers unethically targeting New York act to prohibit persons who were employed by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations on or after January 20, 2025 from being eligible for New York state workforce recruitment programs or resources; allows exceptions to such prohibition on a case-by-case basis.

Prohibits and regulates the discovery and disclosure of immigration status; prohibits police officers, peace officers, school resource officers, probation agencies, state entities, state employees, and municipal corporations from questioning individuals regarding their citizenship or immigration status; regulates the disclosure of information relating to immigration status; prohibits an educational agency, higher education agency, school employee, school safety personnel, or third-party contractor from collecting information about a person's citizenship, immigration status, nationality, or country of origin, unless required by law or necessary to administer a public program or benefit sought by such person.

Eliminates certain court surcharges and fees and probation and parole surcharges and fees; eliminates the requirement that a parolee or releasee receiving a merit termination of sentence be financially able to comply with an order of restitution; eliminates the requirement that a person receiving a discharge of sentence be financially able to comply with an order of restitution and the payment of certain surcharges or fees (Part A); mandates that courts engage in an individualized assessment of a person's financial ability to pay a fine prior to imposing a fine (Part B); eliminates the availability of incarceration as a remedy for a failure to pay a fine, surcharge, or fee, lifts and vacates existing warrants issued solely on a person's failure to timely pay a fine, surcharge or fee and ends existing sentences of incarceration based on such failure (Part C); vacates existing unsatisfied civil judgments based on a person's failure to timely pay a surcharge, or fee (Part D); prohibits the collection of a fine, restitution or reparation from the funds of an incarcerated person; prohibits the payment of court fines, mandatory surcharges, certain fees, restitution, reparation or forfeitures from the earnings of prisoners (Part E); vacates existing unpaid surcharges, DNA databank fees, crime victim assistance fees, sexual offender registration fees, supplemental sex offender victim fees, or probation or parole supervision fees; repeals certain provisions of law relating to restrictions on remitting such fees (Part F).

Directs the department of public service to promulgate rules, regulations and model policies regarding setback requirements for the siting of battery energy storage systems; requires minimum setback requirements for commercial energy storage systems, with a capacity of three megawatts or greater, of no less than seven hundred fifty feet from residential property and no less than three hundred feet from residential property located in a city with a population of one million or more inhabitants; requires public hearings prior to the approval of an application for a permit for such systems.

Provides that any system for warning populations who are or may be endangered and for rapid and effective communication for any New York emergency alert notification shall occur within thirty minutes, or as soon as practicable thereafter.

Provides a tax credit for sales or rentals of agricultural assets to emerging farmers; requires the commissioner of agriculture and markets to implement a plan for certification of eligible taxpayers with respect thereto.

Increases tax credits for donations to food pantries made by farmers by increasing the allowable percentage of the fair market value of such donations and increasing the maximum amount of such credit.

Permits the legislature to increase the number of justices of the supreme court in any judicial district up to one justice for every thirty thousand people in the district.

Relates to the redistricting of congressional and state legislative districts and to redistricting in the event that another state has acted to determine the district lines for congressional offices more than once in less than ten years.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A 8697) would amend New York's constitution to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 for all elections. It would allow residents aged 16 or older who have lived in their county, city, or village for at least 30 days before an election to vote. The bill directly affects 16- and 17-year-old New York residents. If passed, it would require a constitutional amendment process, including a 3-month public notice period before a vote on the change.