Sen. Robert Jackson

Directs the superintendent of financial services to conduct an analysis of the financial stability of the check cashing industry and review the current system of licensing for such industry and issue reports on both topics.

Requires a pharmacy benefit manager to pay a participating pharmacy at minimum at the national average drug acquisition cost (NADAC) rate, or at the pharmacy acquisition cost rate if greater or there is not a NADAC rate, plus a professional dispensing fee that is at minimum the professional dispensing fee paid under the state medical assistance program.

Provides that the submission of claims for services provided by home care agencies shall be done on forms approved by the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.

Allows access to sealed records and certain confidential records by the New York city civilian complaint review board in furtherance of the board's duties and functions.

Establishes the New York dignity in pregnancy and childbirth act; requires hospitals and other facilities that provide perinatal care to implement an evidence-based implicit bias program for all health care providers involved in the perinatal care of patients within those facilities; requires the department of health to publish reports on maternal morbidity and pregnancy related deaths.

Provides for priority for applications and expedited determination of claims for a human trafficking victim who wishes to remove permanent marks that were part of the trafficking of such victim, including but not limited to, tattoos, markings, brandings, or other symbols or insignia.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New York's state parole board to include at least one member who has been previously incarcerated. It directly affects the board's composition, which reviews prisoner release decisions and is appointed by the governor. The law amends existing statutes to mandate that one of the board's members must have firsthand experience with the prison system. This change is a concrete policy adjustment to the board's membership rules, without specifying how this experience would influence decisions.

Requires certain civil court documents to be provided to parties in their native language; requires parties to demonstrate their understanding of the nature and effect of such documents.

Requires certain utility corporations and the Long Island power authority to establish a meter usage monitor program for the purposes of notifying residential customers when energy usage exceeds a cost or usage threshold in a given billing period determined by the residential customer.

Maddy summaryThis bill (S 6727) changes the evidentiary standard for disciplinary and evidentiary hearings in New York's correction system. It replaces the current "substantial evidence" standard with the higher "preponderance of the evidence" standard (meaning it is more likely than not that the facts support the decision). This directly affects inmates and staff facing disciplinary actions in correctional facilities, as it raises the bar for evidence required to uphold those decisions. If enacted, the change would apply to all such hearings under the Correction Law and take effect 90 days after becoming law.