Sen. Julia Salazar

Maddy summaryS 1018 requires school districts in cities with at least one million residents (like New York City) to include specific worker protections in all contracts for transporting K-12 students. The bill mandates that these contracts must preserve wages, health benefits, retirement plans, seniority, and hiring preferences for school bus workers who were employed as of June 30, 2023, and became unemployed due to contract loss or service reductions. It applies directly to contractors and subcontractors providing school bus services, ensuring continuity of employment terms for affected workers. The law does not change existing bidding requirements for contracts but adds these labor protections as a condition for contract approval. This bill affects school districts, transportation contractors, and approximately 100,000 school bus workers in large urban areas.

Maddy summaryBill S 660 aims to regulate the detention of individuals by police officers and enhance transparency regarding their custody. It defines "without unnecessary delay" for detention as less than twenty-four hours from the time a person is taken into custody, requiring immediate release if this limit is not met. The bill also mandates that cities with a population of one million or more establish a searchable online registry of detained persons, showing their names, ages, and locations, with access limited to contracted defender organizations. Additionally, it establishes an evidentiary presumption in habeas corpus cases that pre-arraignment detention exceeding twenty-four hours is unlawful unless proven otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.

Prohibits county correction officers from dispensing medications to incarcerated individuals on the premises of a local correctional facility; provides that correction officers or staff may dispense or administer medications during a medical emergency, or dispense nonprescription medication.

Establishes procedures regarding orders of post-termination visitation and/or contact between a child and such child's parent and for modification of such orders.

Requires a pharmacy benefit manager to pay a participating pharmacy at minimum at the national average drug acquisition cost (NADAC) rate, or at the pharmacy acquisition cost rate if greater or there is not a NADAC rate, plus a professional dispensing fee that is at minimum the professional dispensing fee paid under the state medical assistance program.

Establishes a private right of action for deed theft; provides that victims of deed theft may maintain an action against a deed thief or a bank that provides a loan that assists in the commission of deed theft; authorizes victims of deed theft to recover actual damages, treble damages and attorneys' fees; defines terms.

Establishes the New York dignity in pregnancy and childbirth act; requires hospitals and other facilities that provide perinatal care to implement an evidence-based implicit bias program for all health care providers involved in the perinatal care of patients within those facilities; requires the department of health to publish reports on maternal morbidity and pregnancy related deaths.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New York's state parole board to include at least one member who has been previously incarcerated. It directly affects the board's composition, which reviews prisoner release decisions and is appointed by the governor. The law amends existing statutes to mandate that one of the board's members must have firsthand experience with the prison system. This change is a concrete policy adjustment to the board's membership rules, without specifying how this experience would influence decisions.

Maddy summaryThis bill (S 6727) changes the evidentiary standard for disciplinary and evidentiary hearings in New York's correction system. It replaces the current "substantial evidence" standard with the higher "preponderance of the evidence" standard (meaning it is more likely than not that the facts support the decision). This directly affects inmates and staff facing disciplinary actions in correctional facilities, as it raises the bar for evidence required to uphold those decisions. If enacted, the change would apply to all such hearings under the Correction Law and take effect 90 days after becoming law.

Expands protections regarding violations of safety conditions in adult care facilities; provides penalties for safety violations and operating without a valid license; prohibits reductions in fines in certain circumstances where a patient is endangered or harmed.