Sen. Robert Jackson

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New York's labor law to clarify which private construction projects must follow prevailing wage rules when using public funds. It defines "covered projects" as those where public funds make up at least 20% of total costs (over $5 million) or $3 million+ in public funds. The law excludes single-family homes, small nonprofits, and certain affordable housing projects (like those with 25%+ affordable units under 15-year agreements) from these requirements. It also specifies that tax benefits, loan savings, and some public subsidies do not count as "public funds" for this purpose.

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

Provides that any one-way, round trip or multi-trip tickets purchased for use on the Long Island Rail Road or the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company by a senior citizen or a person with a disability shall be valid at any time during the day or night.

Relates to attendance policies for employees of the metropolitan transportation authority or contractors of Nassau and Suffolk counties providing public transportation regarding time off for medical services and court appearances.

Establishes a civil cause of action for employees who are subjected to an abusive work environment; provides employers shall be vicariously liable for such work environment.

Establishes alternative twenty and twenty-five year plans for every non-seasonally appointed sworn member or officer of the division of law enforcement in the department of environmental conservation, a forest ranger in the service of the department of environmental conservation, which shall mean a person who serves on a full-time basis in the title of forest ranger I, forest ranger II, forest ranger III, assistant superintendent of forest fire control, or any successor titles or new titles in the forest ranger title series in the department of environmental conservation, a police officer in the department of environmental conservation, the regional state park police, and university of police officers whose date of membership is prior to January first, two thousand ten.

Establishes the healthy and safe students act; requires comprehensive sexuality instruction for students in grades K-12 which includes a model curricula for comprehensive sexuality education and at a minimum conforms to the content and scope of national sexuality education standards.

Establishes clean energy goals of reducing the annual total of vehicle miles traveled within the state by 20% by the year 2050; requires state and local highway projects to comply with reductions to vehicle miles traveled targets.

Prohibits the release of criminal history or any mental health history records by a coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner of individuals who were the subject of the use of force by a police or peace officer.

Maddy summaryThis bill sets annual caseload limits for public defenders representing low-income clients in criminal cases. It requires that no public defender handle more than 367 misdemeanor cases or 138 felony cases per year, with each felony counting as roughly 2.66 misdemeanors in mixed caseloads. The law applies specifically to constitutionally mandated public defense services in criminal matters. The policy aims to ensure defenders have manageable workloads to provide adequate representation.