Asm. George Alvarez

Maddy summaryThis bill limits health care workers, including nurses and unlicensed assistive personnel, to their regularly scheduled work hours without mandatory overtime. Exceptions allow longer shifts only during declared emergencies (like natural disasters or public health crises), federal/state emergency declarations, or when completing an ongoing medical/surgical procedure. It specifically excludes doctors, residents, and security staff from this definition. The law aims to protect patient safety by preventing excessive staff fatigue through concrete scheduling limits. Employers cannot use on-call time to bypass these restrictions.

Increases the minimum wage outside of New York city and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester; repeals certain provisions of law relating to exceptions to minimum wage increases.

Prohibits the city school district from reimbursing charter schools for leasing a privately owned or other publicly owned facility; prohibits charter school employee contracts from including a non-disclosure agreement.

Establishes scramble crosswalks leading to and from school buildings during times of student arrival and dismissal to ensure all vehicular traffic is stopped while pedestrians are crossing in the same intersection.

Creates a state office of algorithmic innovation to set policies and standards to ensure algorithms are safe, effective, fair, and ethical, and that the state is conducive to promoting algorithmic innovation.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New York state agencies administering social services to provide language access for people with limited English proficiency. It mandates translating essential forms and instructions into the 12 most common non-English languages in the state (based on census data), plus up to four additional languages at the department's discretion. Agencies must also offer free interpretation services upon request and provide communication assistance for individuals with disabilities like deafness, blindness, or cognitive impairments. The law applies directly to social services program beneficiaries and participants, ensuring they can access benefits like nutrition assistance without language barriers.

Provides that certain communications made without malice regarding an incident of sexual assault, harassment or discrimination shall be deemed privileged; provides that a prevailing defendant in an action brought against such defendant for making a communication that is privileged shall be entitled to attorney's fees and costs for such defense.

Relates to an increase in punishment for certain actions against on-duty auxiliary police officers such as criminally negligent homicide, assault or menacing of such officer.

Prohibits police officers from using bias-based profiling; requires that a procedure be established for the taking and review of complaints against police officers for bias-based profiling; allows an action for injunctive relief and/or damages to be brought against a law enforcement agency, any agent of a law enforcement agency and the supervisor of an agent.

Relates to the right to unemployment benefits based on employment with certain educational institutions, including the state university of New York, the city university of New York and public community colleges; clarifies the meaning of certain terms relating to such rights to unemployment benefits.