Asm. Jessica González-Rojas

Enacts the building up immigrant legal defense or BUILD act to provide competitive workforce development and capacity building grants to eligible entities that are seeking to expand access to representation for individuals facing deportation by increasing the workforce and strengthening the legal services infrastructure needed to provide such representation.

Maddy summaryThis New York State bill allows for advance payments of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to qualifying low-income workers, replacing the current system where refunds are issued after annual tax filing. Eligible workers - including those aged 19 or older (down from 25) and without children - will receive four payments: three during the year (20% of the expected credit) and one adjusted payment after the tax year ends. The bill also increases the credit percentage for 2027 and later years (up to 40%), raises the income threshold for phaseout to $24,960 (from $11,610), and includes annual inflation adjustments. Payments will be delivered via direct deposit or electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card.

Establishes fetal and infant mortality review boards to study fetal and infant mortality and morbidity and make recommendations on policies, best practices, and strategies to reduce fetal and infant mortality and morbidity.

Clarifies the standard for intentional discrimination or retaliation claims by requiring a person or persons prove that an unlawful motivation was a motivating factor and not "the sole motivating factor" or a "but-for cause" of the challenged treatment.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates August 31st of every year as "Overdose Awareness Day" in New York State. It adds this date to the existing list of official commemorative days in the executive law, alongside other observances like Juneteenth and Holocaust Remembrance Day. The bill does not create new policies, funding, or requirements - it simply establishes an annual day of remembrance focused on overdose prevention and awareness. This designation directly affects New York State residents and government entities, which may choose to recognize the day through official proclamations or events. The change takes effect immediately upon enactment.

Establishes the mandatory reporting by certain professional or official persons who come into contact with mentally or physically incapacitated persons who were abused including residents of assisted living and adult care facilities who may be abused, mistreated or neglected; provides reporting procedures and grants immunity for such reporting; provides criminal and civil penalties.

Requires that public schools provide instruction on climate change, including but not limited to identifying the causes and impacts of climate change on individuals, environments and communities, and learning to evaluate solutions.

Relates to establishing a maximum rent of one-third of household income for the senior citizens rent increase exemption and disability rent increase exemption.

Suspends the registration of a vehicle which has been documented five times within an eighteen month period by a photo violation monitoring device for failure of an operator thereof to comply with traffic-control indications for a period of ninety days.

Relates to the confidentiality and expungement of records in juvenile delinquency cases in the family court; requires certain records to be expunged automatically.