Sen. Iwen Chu

Provides that no policy of group accident, group health or group accident and health shall impose copayments for physical or occupational therapy greater than the copay for similar services provided by a physician.

Establishes a maximum temperature in school buildings and indoor facilities; provides a definition of extreme heat condition days and the standard to measure room temperature.

Enacts the "food retail establishment subsidization for healthy communities act" (FRESH Communities); provides loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies and grants to businesses, municipalities, not-for-profit corporations or local development corporations for the purpose of attracting, maintaining or permitting the expansion of food retail establishments in underserved areas.

Establishes a state Parkinson's disease registry; directs certain health professionals and general hospitals to report instances of Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonisms to the department of health; directs the department of health to create and manage the Parkinson's disease registry; makes related provisions.

Provides additional benefits for certain county correction officers in Suffolk county; provides benefits to retirement system members with credited service of thirty years.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows employees of the New York City Board of Education who are represented by the United Federation of Teachers to move their retirement coverage from the board's existing system to the city's Teachers' Retirement System. To make this change, an eligible employee must submit a formal application within one year of becoming qualified for the new system, after which their past service and contributions will be transferred and counted as continuous membership. The legislation applies to all employees in titles represented by the union, regardless of whether they are currently union members, and grants them all the rights and benefits of the Teachers' Retirement System upon transfer.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands the legal definition of aggravated harassment to include the intentional removal or threat of removal of religious clothing or headwear. It applies to anyone who performs this act with the intent to annoy, threaten, or alarm another person based on their race, religion, gender identity, or other protected characteristics. The law treats this specific behavior as a criminal offense regardless of whether the perpetrator's belief about the victim's identity is accurate. Once signed into law, the provision takes effect immediately to provide clearer protections against religious discrimination in public spaces.

Enacts "Melanie's law"; relates to orders of protection; allows courts to issue orders of protection for immediate family members or household members of the named victims, regardless of age.

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.

Ensures that color vision requirements for appointment of police officers are tailored to only eliminate individuals with extreme color vision deficiencies from eligibility; provides methods under which an individual can meet such requirements after failing to meet an initial color vision standard.