Asm. Eddie Gibbs

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits colleges and universities from using an applicant's family connection to current graduates as a factor in deciding who gets accepted. Under the new rules, schools cannot give special consideration to students based on their familial relationship to alumni, effectively ending the practice of legacy admissions. While institutions are still allowed to ask about family ties after a student has already accepted an offer, this information can only be used for data collection and not to influence the admission decision. The law takes effect on July 1st of the year following its passage.

Requires the publication of notice within twenty-four hours of the death of an incarcerated individual or any other individual occurring in the custody of the department of corrections and community supervision by department press release by posting on the department's public website.

Enacts the "New York wildlife crossing act"; directs the department of transportation and the New York state thruway authority to identify sites along all highways, thruways and parkways in the state where wildlife crossings are most needed to increase public safety and improve habitat connectivity and create a priority list of wildlife opportunity areas where federal grant monies may be available to implement the top five projects identified.

Expands the food donation and food scraps recycling program by scaling down the annual average tonnage requirement every two years until 2028; removes exceptions regarding recycler capacity.

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits the sale of medical adhesives and bandages in the state if they contain specific chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. It directly affects manufacturers, importers, and distributors by requiring them to ensure these products are free from those substances before selling them. The law allows sellers to avoid penalties if they can prove they relied on a valid certificate of compliance from the manufacturer, while also imposing daily fines for violations. The regulations will take effect on December 31, 2025, giving the industry time to adjust before the ban is enforced.

Provides immunity from prosecution for certain individuals engaged in prostitution who are victims of or witnesses to a crime and who report such crime or assist in the investigation or prosecution.

Requires the commissioner of education, in consultation with the commissioner of health, to develop a bleeding control kit program which requires bleeding control kits to be installed in easily accessible areas of schools; requires training of personnel to use bleeding control kits in the event of an injury to another person.

Enacts the consumer litigation funding act to promote consumer protections related to consumer litigation funding transactions; provides for contract requirements, including that the contract contain a no penalty provision for the prepayment of the funded amount prior to the settlement of his or her case; makes related provisions.

Relates to returnable bottles; adds noncarbonated soft drinks, certain noncarbonated fruit or vegetable juices, coffee and tea beverages, carbonated fruit beverages and cider to the definition of "beverage"; provides that beginning April 1, 2026, the handling fee will be six cents for each beverage container accepted by a deposit initiator from a dealer or operator of a redemption center.

Requires the court to consider a child's health and safety when making a decision regarding child custody and visitation; directs the court to review certain information as it relates to allegations of child abuse, domestic violence and child safety; requires the court to appoint an attorney to represent the child when credible allegations of serious risk to the child's safety have been made.