Sen. Kevin Parker

Maddy summaryBill S 5565 requires health insurance policies, including comprehensive-type coverage, and Medicaid to cover patient navigation services. This coverage is for individuals facing serious health conditions expected to last at least three months, who are at high risk for outcomes like hospitalization or physical decline. Patient navigation services include screening for nonclinical needs such as transportation or housing, connecting individuals to support services, and assisting with healthcare appointments. Reimbursement is provided to trained and certified patient navigators who work under the general supervision of a licensed healthcare provider.

Establishes the New York state transportation modernization grant program and the transportation modernization advisory committee to provide awards to certain entities for the development of public school transportation.

Provides that credits for excess electricity generated by customer-generators subject to net energy metering by an electric corporation or the Long Island power authority may be carried over indefinitely and used against any charges imposed by an electric corporation or the Long Island power authority when the customer-generator uses more electricity than such customer generates; provides for the accounting of credits once every 5 years and the electric corporation or Long Island power authority shall reimburse the customer-generator for the accumulated credits.

Enacts the "gas tax holiday act"; provides that from the first of the month after the effective date of the section until December 31, 2027 the taxes imposed on retail sales of fuel gas, motor fuel and diesel motor fuel shall be exempt from certain taxes.

Relates to parole eligibility for certain incarcerated persons age fifty-five or older if they have served at least fifteen years of their sentence or sentences.

Relates to the former crime of loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense; expunges criminal records for persons previously convicted of such crime; directs the chief administrator of the courts to provide information regarding such expungement; adds language to identify that the crime of loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense is no longer in law.

Enacts the "Empowering People in Rights Enforcement (EMPIRE) Worker Protection Act"; relates to the delegation of state enforcement authority to private actors; authorizes an affected employee, whistleblower, representative organization or an organizational deputy to initiate a public enforcement action on behalf of the commissioner for certain provisions of the labor law, or any regulation promulgated thereunder.

Relates to the establishment of a single computerized state DNA identification index; requires municipalities to expunge any DNA record stored in a municipal DNA identification index.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends the Education Law to allow students to be absent from school specifically for reasons related to their mental or behavioral health. It requires the state education commissioner to create specific rules outlining how schools should handle these absences and ensures that private or home-based schooling arrangements also permit such time off. The legislation applies to all minors required to attend school, giving them a recognized reason to miss class without violating attendance mandates.

Relates to providing more predictable and stable schedules for employees in low-wage occupations; provides that an employer shall pay an employee for at least 4 hours at the basic minimum hourly wage for each day an employee reports for work as instructed but is given less than four hours of work.