Sen. Liz Krueger

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a student loan forgiveness program specifically for municipal attorneys working for New York state political subdivisions (like cities or counties). It provides up to $3,400 annually toward student loan debt for eligible attorneys employed full-time in roles providing social/protective services to indigent people or police services, for a maximum of six years. To qualify, attorneys must be New York residents admitted to practice law, employed in these specific municipal roles, and within 11 years of being admitted to the bar. The program excludes district attorneys and indigent legal services attorneys, who are covered under separate existing provisions.

Maddy summaryS 2296 would create a new role for court-appointed advocates in New York animal welfare cases. In any civil or criminal case involving an animal's well-being, courts could appoint a volunteer advocate from a list maintained by the court to monitor the case, access relevant records (like vet or animal control reports), and share information with lawyers and the court. The advocate would present recommendations about the animal's interests but cannot subpoena witnesses or obtain discovery. This directly affects animals involved in legal cases and the courts handling them, with advocates limited to lawyers or supervised law students. The bill requires courts to appoint such advocates upon request or initiative, focusing on the animal's welfare as a distinct interest.

Enacts into law components of legislation that relate to live event ticket sales; institutes civil penalties for utilizing ticket purchasing software; institutes new penalties for second offenses for licensees and for any person, firm, corporation or entity who is made aware of the utilization of ticket purchasing software and does not notify the attorney general of such utilization (Part A); establishes an annual professional reseller renewal fee; requires professional ticket resellers to provide their New York state ticket reseller license number as a condition of utilizing an online resale marketplace to resell tickets (Part B); provides criteria for when a purchaser may obtain a full refund of the amount paid for a ticket; permits a refund when a purchaser cannot attend an event due to a medical necessity (Part C); relates to resale requirements for tickets; requires that if a licensee or other ticket reseller doesn't have possession of the ticket, then they shall have a written contract to obtain the offered ticket at a certain price from a person or entity in possession of the ticket or from a person or entity who has a contractual right to obtain such ticket, and tickets to the event have been placed on sale by the venue or entity hosting the event or its authorized agent before the licensee or reseller can advertise the sale of the tickets (Part D); relates to unlawful charges in connection with tickets; permits reasonable charges for costs actually rendered or otherwise in connection to customer support, technological and software infrastructure, and actual operational costs for sales away from the box office; defines terms (Part E); relates to the availability of tickets for sale to the general public; defines a term (Part F); reduces the minimum seating capacity requirement for a professional sports organization membership pass to over thirteen thousand five hundred seats in a venue or stadium (Part G); prohibits exclusivity clauses in contracts between operators of places of entertainment and primary ticket vendors (Part H); relates to the resale of tickets included in a subscription or season ticket package (Part I).

Permits the sealing of records of certain nonviolent misdemeanor or non-sexual misdemeanor criminal offenses; defines the term "eligible misdemeanor"; excludes certain misdemeanor offenses as eligible misdemeanors for the purposes of conditional sealing; lists certain eligibility requirements for sealing; provides an order granting sealing under this section shall restore the individual concerned, in the contemplation of the laws, to the status such individual occupied before the arrest or institution of criminal proceedings for the crime that was the subject of the sealing.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New York State to balance its annual budget (excluding capital projects) starting April 1, 2026, using standard accounting principles. It creates the New York State Governmental Accounting Review Board to help the governor and legislature implement this requirement, handle requests for budget exemptions, and manage transitions if compliance would disrupt essential services. The board, composed of five accounting experts appointed by the governor, will review budget submissions and ensure they align with generally accepted accounting principles. This directly affects how the state government prepares and passes its annual budget, requiring all revenue and expenditure estimates to be reported under standardized accounting rules.

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.

Requires additional disclosures from lobbyists including: campaign contributions to elected officials; existing business relationships or associations with public officials; and the names of family members of a public official to whom the lobbyist, or their employer, paid compensation of over $500 in the preceding calendar year and the amount of compensation paid; provides for the disposition of campaign funds.

Discontinues the real property tax exemption for certain real property that is used for home games for certain professional sports teams in New York city beginning with the 2026 assessment roll.

Prohibits the search, with or without a warrant, of geolocation and keyword data of a group of people who are under no individual suspicion of having committed a crime, but rather are defined by having been at a given location at a given time or searched particular words, phrases, character strings, or websites.

Maddy summaryS 656 requires new homes built with certain New York state or federal financial assistance to include basic accessibility features for people with disabilities. It mandates step-free entrances, 36-inch wide interior doors, environmental controls at accessible heights (15-48 inches above floor), and specific bathroom requirements including grab bar reinforcements and minimum clear floor space. The law applies to detached single-family homes, ground-floor townhouses, or ground-floor units in buildings with three or fewer units. Exclusions cover sites with physically unreasonable constraints and certain mortgage-backed loans (like FHA or Fannie Mae). Violations carry civil penalties of $50-$500 per offense.