Asm. Linda Rosenthal

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New York's penal law to include certain felony animal cruelty offenses as "serious offenses" under firearm possession restrictions. It specifically adds violations of Agriculture and Markets Law sections 351, 353-a, 360, 361, and Penal Law section 242.15 to the list of crimes that prohibit firearm possession. As a result, individuals convicted of these specific animal cruelty felonies would be barred from possessing firearms, aligning their legal status with other serious offenses under current law.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows pet dealers to sell birds that are not yet fully weaned, but only under strict conditions. Dealers must provide written disclosure to buyers that the bird is unweaned, confirm the buyer knows how to hand-feed the bird (or provide training), and secure a written agreement for weekly inspections until the bird is fully weaned - defined as maintaining at least 90% of its weight without hand-feeding. It directly affects pet dealers selling birds and their buyers, requiring documentation of the bird’s weight at sale. The law replaces a prior outright ban on selling unweaned birds with these specific buyer accountability measures.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires fingerprinting and background checks for employees of contracted service providers who work directly with students in schools, such as substitute teachers, tutors, educational consultants, and school administrative support staff. It allows school districts to delegate the fingerprinting process to these contracted providers (instead of handling it themselves) if the providers meet state requirements. The bill also updates forms for submitting fingerprints and receiving criminal history clearance, while excluding school districts in cities with over one million residents from these rules. These changes apply to public school districts, charter schools, and non-public schools providing student support services.

Prohibits participation in torture of incarcerated individuals by health professionals; prohibits a health care professional from engaging, assisting or planning the torture of an incarcerated individual; requires health care professionals to report torture.

Relates to the statute of limitations for actions based on discriminatory practices in employment; establishes action must be commenced within six years.

Allows voters to take photographs of themselves and their ballot, or absentee ballot, while in a privacy booth, and to share and disseminate such photographs on social media.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to obtain approval from the New York State legislature before selling or transferring any of its real property to a private entity. It directly affects NYCHA, which manages public housing properties, by adding a new requirement to its legal process for property sales. The key mechanism is a new section (402-a) in the Public Housing Law mandating legislative approval for all such contracts, effective immediately. This change applies to any sale or transfer of NYCHA-owned property to private buyers after the bill's enactment.

Establishes patient safety and quality assurance measures regarding the distribution of patient-specific medication from an insurer-designated pharmacy; prohibits certain "brown bagging" and "white bagging" policies regarding pharmacy provided medications.

Relates to requiring boards of elections to include the number of registration forms distributed to and returned by each agency assisting with voter registration in their annual reports; provides personally identifiable information about the registrants shall not be collected or included in the report.

Provides that contributions up to the first $250 of any contribution amount shall be matchable contributions under the public campaign financing program.