Sen. Andrew Gounardes

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New York City administrative codes to explicitly authorize the city's Independent Budget Office to access specific taxpayer data for evaluating tax expenditures. By clarifying existing legal exceptions, the legislation allows budget analysts to review individual tax returns and financial reports without violating privacy protections that normally restrict such access. The changes apply to various tax chapters within the city's code, ensuring that officials can gather necessary information to assess the impact of tax policies while maintaining confidentiality for all other purposes.

Provides that when the division of criminal justice services conducts a search of its criminal history records and returns a report thereon, all references to undisposed cases shall be excluded.

Prohibits discrimination against and harassment or bullying of students by employees or students on private, religious or denominational school property or at a school function; provides immunity from civil liability for a person making a good faith report of discrimination, harassment or bullying to authorities.

Relates to the conversion to condominium ownership for the preservation of expiring affordable housing in the city of New York; provides expanded homeownership opportunities from the conversion of certain residential rental buildings to condominium status by property owners that commit to preserve the inventory of expiring affordable housing in the city of New York.

Enacts the "beauty justice act"; provides for the regulation of ingredients in personal care products and cosmetics; prohibits the sale of personal care products and cosmetic products containing certain restricted products.

Enacts the "New York city teleworking expansion act"; provides that each agency shall establish a policy and program to allow employees to perform all or a portion of their duties through teleworking to the maximum extent possible without diminished employee performance; defines the term "telework" to mean to perform normal and regular work functions on a workday that ordinarily would be performed at the agency's principal location at a different location, thereby eliminating or substantially reducing the physical commute to and from such agency's principal location.

Authorizes the promotion of personnel to the positions of General Superintendent 2 and General Superintendent 3; provides that such positions shall be filled as far as practicable by promotion from among persons holding competitive class positions in a lower grade in the sanitation department of the city of New York in which the vacancy exists.

Maddy summaryThis bill increases the monthly pension benefits for surviving spouses of retired New York public employees from fifty percent to one hundred percent of what the deceased partner would have received. The change applies to several retirement systems, including those for city employees, teachers, police, firefighters, and board of education staff, and takes effect on September 1, 2025. Under the new rules, a surviving spouse who chose a lifetime benefit option for their partner will receive the full amount of the pension starting either in September 2025 or the month after the partner's death, whichever occurs later.

Relates to requiring the use of project labor agreements for large scale construction projects under the state university construction fund; provides an exception to such requirement may be granted; provides that the fund may require every contractor become party to a project labor agreement.

Requires every food establishment to label all prepackaged food with a written notification on the package or on a label attached to the package identifying all ingredients and labeling for major food allergens in such form and manner as required pursuant to the federal Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, as amended.