Sen. Tony Palumbo

Maddy summaryThis is a ceremonial Senate resolution (J 1681) congratulating the Potsdam Central High School Girls Hockey Team for winning the 2026 NYSPHSAA Girls Hockey Championship. It formally recognizes the team's 17-3-2 season record, their 3-2 championship victory over Adirondack United, and their status as the school's first girls hockey champions in over a decade. The resolution specifically names all 25 players and coaches (including Head Coach Joe Stark and Assistant Coaches Lindsay LaSala and Olivia Scott) and directs that engrossed copies be sent to them. As a symbolic gesture with no policy impact, it does not create new laws or affect any regulations.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a temporary 9-member commission to address workforce challenges in New York's public retirement system, specifically targeting Tier VI membership status. The commission will study recruitment/retention issues and retirement wave impacts (over 25% of current workforce eligible to retire within 5 years) and submit reform recommendations within one year. It mandates public hearings, access to state data, and requires the commission to report to the governor and legislative leaders by the deadline. The commission expires one year after the bill's effective date. This procedural bill establishes a process for potential retirement system changes but does not enact new policy itself.

Maddy summaryThis bill modifies New York's vehicle insurance requirements for specific vehicle types. It allows nonprofit organizations operating commuter vans, pre-arranged for-hire vehicles (like small school buses or ride services), or ADA-compliant accessible vehicles to use federally registered risk retention groups (special insurance groups) instead of traditional insurers. The policy applies only if the vehicle isn't used for personal purposes by executives or their families, has under 15 seats, and excludes luxury limousines or TNC vehicles. This change aims to provide more flexible insurance options for nonprofits serving communities with specialized transportation needs.

Enacts the whale awareness act directing the department of environmental conservation to establish recommendations and educational materials for reduction of marine mammal interactions.

Enacts the climate resilient New York act; establishes the office of resilience and a resilience task force to assess and identify climate related threats and develop a statewide resilience plan.

Maddy summaryS 1527 creates a sales tax exemption for commercial energy storage systems equipment and their installation costs. This directly affects businesses installing such systems on non-residential properties to store electricity for later use in heating, cooling, hot water, or power. The bill amends tax law to exempt these systems from state sales tax, covering both the equipment and installation services. Local governments must explicitly adopt this exemption in their tax ordinances to apply it.

Maddy summaryThis bill adds 7-Hydroxymitragynine (including all its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers) to Schedule I of controlled substances under New York's public health law. It directly affects anyone possessing, distributing, or using this compound, as Schedule I classification makes it illegal without specific authorization. The key mechanism is a specific legal amendment to the public health law, explicitly listing the chemical compound and its variants for regulatory control. This change would subject 7-Hydroxymitragynine to the strictest federal and state controls on substances with no accepted medical use and high abuse potential.

Enacts the "pediatric palliative care act" to establish pediatric palliative care centers to provide palliative care to individuals who are under twenty-one years of age, have been diagnosed with a chronic, complex, life-threatening illness that is expected to shorten their life expectancy, and is not expected to survive past twenty-one years of age.

Maddy summaryS 5296, "Nicole's Law," requires hospitals in the state to implement specific protocols for patients admitted with self-inflicted, life-threatening injuries like suicide attempts or drug overdoses. Hospitals must review a patient's history of such injuries, contact family/caregivers for background, and extend inpatient stays based on prior incidents. Upon discharge, hospitals must provide families with 48-hour notice, hold care planning meetings, connect patients to community-based mental health services, and schedule follow-up checks. The law also mandates clinical trials to offer crisis resources and referrals if participants disclose past suicide attempts. This directly affects hospitals, patients with repeated self-harm, and community mental health providers.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution (J 1603) memorializes Governor Hochul to officially designate April 2026 as "Workplace Violence Prevention Month" in New York State. It does not create new laws but requests the Governor issue a proclamation to raise public awareness about preventing workplace violence, particularly highlighting healthcare workers' elevated risk (five times higher than other industries). The resolution references April as the nationally recognized Workplace Violence Prevention Awareness Month and directs copies to the Governor and medical associations. It is a ceremonial measure focused on awareness, not policy change.