Sen. James Skoufis

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new crime for wearing masks, hoods, or other disguises that hide a person's face during a lawful assembly, unlawful assembly, or riot. The law includes specific exceptions for individuals wearing personal protective equipment during a declared public health emergency or for those dressed for religious observance. By defining these actions as a violation, the legislation aims to ensure that participants in public gatherings can be identified, while still protecting health and religious freedoms.

Establishes the retail worker safety act requiring retail worker employers to develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence; directs the department of labor to produce a model workplace violence prevention training program; requires employers to provide training on such programs; requires the installation of panic buttons at certain workplaces or wearable or mobile phone-based panic buttons to be provided.

Provides for reciprocity agreements with other states for medical cannabis programs; directs the cannabis control board to promulgate regulations for the approval of pre-roll products in the medical cannabis program.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New York's alcoholic beverage control law to allow liquor stores to sell specific non-alcoholic items, including tonic water, bitters, maraschino cherries, and dealcoholized wine. By adding these products to a list of exceptions, the legislation clarifies that selling them does not violate rules prohibiting liquor retailers from engaging in unrelated businesses. The change directly affects licensed liquor wholesalers and retailers by expanding the range of goods they can legally offer alongside alcoholic beverages.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires state and local government agencies to proactively publish public records of public interest on the internet, shifting the focus from citizens requesting information to agencies making it readily available online. It defines "publishable state data" as information that agencies are allowed or required to share, while explicitly excluding records that would violate privacy laws, endanger public safety, or impose undue financial burdens. The legislation also mandates that a committee on open government create specific rules to oversee how agencies implement these new transparency requirements and manage the publication process.

Maddy summaryThis bill proposes to rename the state's supreme court to the superior court and the court of appeals to the supreme court. The changes are made through amendments to the state constitution that update references to these courts in sections regarding judicial review, the unified court system, and the composition of the highest appellate court. By altering these constitutional titles, the legislation ensures that all legal documents and procedures consistently refer to the courts by their new names without changing their powers or functions. The bill requires approval from both the Assembly and the Senate to become effective.

Maddy summaryThis bill removes the ability of towns and cities to ban the sale of alcohol within their borders. It achieves this by repealing the specific legal article that allowed local municipalities to hold referendums on alcohol prohibition and preventing them from passing new ordinances that would ban sales entirely. The changes would apply to any municipality that previously used these local options to restrict alcohol availability. The law would not take effect immediately but would wait ninety days after being signed into law.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands public access to government records by requiring documents created by outside consultants on behalf of state agencies to be included in Freedom of Information Law requests. Currently, such materials prepared for agencies might be exempt from disclosure, but this change ensures they are treated like other inter-agency records available to the public. The law applies immediately and affects how state agencies manage and release information generated by external experts.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government to publish financial disclosure statements for candidates running for statewide office or legislative seats on its website. The commission must make these documents available for public review within thirty days of receiving the initial filing or ten days after receiving any amendments. The law mandates that the information remain online for at least five years and prohibits deleting any content unless the commission specifically determines that certain details must be removed. Additionally, the bill expands the types of documents the commission must post online, including notices of delinquency, details of civil assessments, and terms of settlements. These changes take effect on January 1st of the year following the bill's enactment.

Provides that the department of environmental conservation shall deny or suspend any permit issued by the department if the applicant or the permittee or any of its directors, officers or senior management have been convicted of a criminal offense involving fraud, bribery, perjury, an offense against public administration as that term is used in article one hundred ninety-five of the penal law, or conspiracy to commit any such offense.