Sen. Michelle Hinchey

Maddy summaryThis bill authorizes the city of Kingston to implement a local occupancy tax of up to 3% on overnight lodging. The tax applies to hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and similar tourist facilities, excluding permanent residents staying 90 consecutive days or more and certain government or charitable entities. Revenue collected from the tax would be deposited into the city's general fund for use in municipal services and infrastructure, with the city council determining specific spending priorities. The bill also establishes procedures for tax collection, reporting, and legal review of assessments.

Requires the department of environmental conservation, after consultation with the environmental facilities corporation and the department of state, to submit an annual agency stormwater expenditure report containing a comprehensive estimate and summary of funds needed and funds spent on stormwater projects under the department of environmental conservation, the environmental facilities corporation, the department of state and other applicable agencies or state authorities.

Requires the division for small-business to publish a small business compliance guide and post such guide to the division for small-business's website.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows licensed creative arts therapists (as defined under New York's Education Law Article 163) to bill Medicaid directly for their services. It amends the social services law to explicitly include these therapists in the list of providers permitted to bill Medicaid directly for covered mental health services. The change affects creative arts therapists who currently provide services within their scope of practice but may have previously needed intermediaries to access Medicaid reimbursement. The bill does not alter their scope of practice or expand covered services - it only changes the billing mechanism. This would streamline payment for these therapists while maintaining existing Medicaid coverage rules.

Requires the office for the aging to develop and provide elder abuse prevention training to train senior service centers and entities that contract with the office for the aging and the office of children and family services to provide services to elderly persons in the detection and reporting of elder abuse in consultation with the office of children and family services.

Requires all authorities having jurisdiction over a population exceeding five thousand residents to adopt a residential automated solar permitting platform by June thirtieth, two thousand twenty-seven.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires individuals or government departments inspecting abandoned or vacated properties to check for any companion animals that may have been left behind. If an animal is found during these inspections, the person or department must immediately contact animal control, police, or a humane society to retrieve or care for the pet, while explicitly stating they do not become the animal's owner. The legislation also imposes fines of up to $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for subsequent offenses on anyone who fails to conduct these required inspections. Additionally, the law mandates that if a tenant is present, at least seven days of notice must be given before entry, except in cases of emergency repairs.

Maddy summaryThis bill (S 6578) allows people who have registered with New York's adoption information registry to pre-authorize the release of their identifying information (names and addresses only) to other registry members. Specifically, adoptees, birth parents, or biological siblings can use a standardized form to consent to sharing their information with the other party. The state department must then release this limited information to the authorized recipient, either through an adoption agency or directly, unless the person chooses otherwise. It does not change existing access to full adoption records but adds this optional pre-authorization process for sharing basic contact details.

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits LPG sellers from charging certain fees related to delivery, usage, or storage. It bans excessive "special usage fees" (unless properly disclosed and justified), fees for undelivered gas, termination fees exceeding actual labor costs, and tank rental fees after service ends. Sellers must clearly describe all fees on customer bills and provide rebates for gas resold after removal. The bill also prevents consumers from bearing costs for compliance with government regulations, ensuring these expenses don’t increase customer bills.

Requires health care plans and payors to have a minimum of twelve and one-half percent of their total expenditures on physical and mental health annually be for primary care services.