Sen. Brian Kavanagh

Enacts The New Deal for CUNY; increases the ratio of faculty and mental health counselors to full-time students; requires that certain amounts of tuition be replaced by federal, state, and city funds.

Relates to requiring the establishment of utility customer arrears reporting; requires utilities to report to the public service commission on customers who are in arrears.

Prohibits governmental entities from entering into agreements to house individuals in immigration detention facilities; requires governmental entities to terminate existing contracts for the detention of individuals in immigration detention facilities.

Relates to procedures relating to driving while ability impaired by drugs; defines impairment and intoxication; updates procedures for field testing of drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs to include the use of oral/bodily fluid tests; provides that refusal to submit to such field tests is specified to be a traffic infraction; makes related provisions.

Establishes an unemployment bridge program and an unemployment bridge program fund to provide wage replacement to workers that do not qualify for unemployment insurance or other worker wage assistance programs and who have lost a major source of income due to lost work (Part A); establishes the "Digital Ad Tax Act (DATA)" creating a tax on digital advertising services (Part B).

Allows real property tax fraud to be prosecuted by expanding tax fraud acts to cover certain acts of fraud under title two of article four of the real property tax law.

Maddy summaryThis bill, S 7644, creates the "Paid-In Act" by exempting used books from state sales tax when purchased for $100 or less per item. It directly affects buyers of secondhand books, such as students or thrift store shoppers, by reducing their purchase costs on qualifying items. The key provision amends tax law to add "used books, including secondhand purchases" to the list of tax-exempt items, with the $100 limit applying per book. This change takes effect immediately upon enactment.

Relates to returnable bottles; adds noncarbonated soft drinks, certain noncarbonated fruit or vegetable juices, coffee and tea beverages, carbonated fruit beverages and cider to the definition of "beverage"; provides that beginning April 1, 2027, the handling fee will be six cents for each beverage container accepted by a deposit initiator from a dealer or operator of a redemption center; directs the multi-agency bottle bill fraud investigation team to submit a report on findings of pervasive bottle redemption fraud in New York state.

Codifies the duty of real estate brokers to supervise salespersons and associate brokers through regular, frequent and consistent personal guidance, instruction and oversight; lists elements of supervision including the ability to familiarize salespersons with state and federal laws against discrimination.

Relates to qualified energy storage systems; authorizes energy storage permitting under the office of renewable energy siting and electric transmission.