Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton

Maddy summaryThis bill (S 5212) requires nail salons in New York to meet new licensing standards focused on health, safety, and worker rights. It directly affects nail salon owners, operators, and employees by mandating: (1) providing gloves and masks for workers; (2) distributing bilingual safety materials covering chemical hazards and wage laws; (3) completing mandatory two-hour training for owners within 30 days of licensing (and biennially for staff); and (4) covering all training costs without deducting from employee pay. The training must address health risks from chemicals, wage laws, and reporting violations, with oversight from a state-appointed committee. These requirements become part of the license application and renewal process.

Relates to streamlining and simplifying the discovery process in order to enhance efficiency in the criminal justice system, speed up the pretrial discovery and trial process, and promote the fair and efficient administration of justice.

Repeals the municipal police training council; creates the police training council to establish a statewide mandatory training curriculum for all law enforcement agencies established with police officer or peace officer status throughout the state.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows New York residents who have received the Bronze Star or Silver Star military decoration (or their spouses) to obtain special license plates displaying "Bronze star recipient" or "Silver star recipient." Applicants must provide proof of the award to the state commissioner and pay a $10 one-time fee in addition to regular registration costs. The plates cannot be issued to both the recipient and their spouse, and the state will allocate $5,000 after one year to cover production expenses. This is a non-partisan administrative change affecting military service members and their families.

Provides for the revocation of licenses to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, alcohol and lottery tickets for the possession or sale of illicit cannabis in violation of the cannabis law.

Permits midwives and physician assistants to certify the cause of death on a fetal death certificate if they are in attendance at or after a fetal death.

Maddy summaryS 2429 creates a New York state tax credit for employers who hire residents from targeted groups (like veterans, ex-offenders, or long-term unemployed individuals) as defined by federal law. Employers can claim up to $500 per eligible employee annually, with a total lifetime cap of $90 million and an annual limit of $30 million. The credit reduces state tax liability but cannot lower tax below minimum thresholds, and any unused credit is treated as an overpayment. The program applies to wages paid starting January 1, 2026, and expires December 31, 2028. It directly affects New York employers hiring from specified target populations.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new enforcement mechanism allowing certain workers, whistleblowers, or labor organizations to file public lawsuits on behalf of New York's labor department to address violations of specific labor laws. It enables private parties to initiate enforcement actions for issues like unpaid wages or misclassification (covered under Articles 5, 6, 9, 19, 19-A, 19-B, and 25-A), with civil penalties collected going to the state treasury. The law aims to supplement limited public enforcement resources by empowering workers and organizations to act as "private attorneys general" while protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. It explicitly excludes government agencies as targets and applies only to violations covered by designated labor law sections.

Ensures that construction and fabrication done off of a public work site for specific use only in a public work project be compensated at the prevailing wage rate.

Provides that the normal service retirement benefit for police/fire members who are members of the New York city fire department pension fund shall be paid to such members of the New York city fire department pension fund without regard to age upon retirement after twenty years of service.