Sen. James Skoufis

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new criminal offense called "vehicular homicide" for drivers who cause another person's death through reckless conduct showing extreme disregard for human life. It directly affects drivers whose actions - like severe speeding or ignoring traffic signals - result in fatalities, even if they didn’t intend to cause death. The law classifies vehicular homicide as a class B felony, the same penalty as second-degree murder in New York, making it a serious criminal charge. This change would replace or add to existing laws for deaths caused by negligent or reckless driving.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows preschool special education programs for children with disabilities to save excess funds - up to 1% of annual costs each year, with a cumulative maximum of 4% - into reserve accounts. These funds must be used for approved expenses like paying prior-year debts or future services and automatically increase future funding calculations. Schools must report reserve balances annually to the education department. The changes apply to programs serving preschoolers with disabilities and take effect July 2025.

Relates to clarifying which entities handle the reporting of pregnancy loss; the responsibilities of health care providers and penalties for not protecting the identities of individuals who suffered a pregnancy loss.

Maddy summaryS 5171 requires that the occupant of any project receiving public funds, financial incentives, subsidies, or tax exemptions must be publicly disclosed before a required public hearing. This applies to projects funded by agencies or granted tax breaks, ensuring transparency about who will occupy the space. The bill amends two sections of New York's General Municipal Law to mandate this disclosure at the time of the public hearing process. It directly affects developers or entities seeking public financial support for projects where occupant identity was previously undisclosed.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires municipal economic development agencies (those serving towns or cities) to charge the same fees as the county-level agency in the same county. It directly affects local agencies that operate within counties with their own countywide development agency, preventing them from charging higher or different fees. The key provision mandates that municipal agencies must match all fees charged by the county agency and cannot impose additional fees. The rule applies to new projects with applications submitted 90 days after the law takes effect. This standardizes fee structures to ensure consistency across municipal and county development initiatives.

Requires Medicaid managed care, and Child Health Plus plans to adopt the procedural protections of the Preferred Drug Program, including "prescriber prevails", for all drugs.

Relates to the issuance of appearance tickets for certain violations of the agriculture and markets law when the person is charged with a crime for which the court may order the posting of a security.

Authorizes police agencies to charge fees for searching, copying, and mailing police agency generated records except for where the requesting party is a victim to or was charged with the crime related to such documents.

Maddy summaryS 347 requires elections for most local non-judicial public officials (such as city supervisors, county clerks, sheriffs, and district attorneys) to occur only in even-numbered years, rather than odd-numbered years as previously allowed. This change applies to city and county officers under New York State law, excluding judicial positions like judges and court officials. The bill amends multiple statutes to align election timing with even-numbered years for these offices, while preserving existing term lengths and procedures. It does not affect judicial elections or change the duration of terms for elected officials. The law takes effect concurrently with a constitutional amendment proposal related to election timing.

Establishes the child victims act fund which provides grant awards in reimbursement to public school districts and voluntary foster care agencies located within the state who have been named as defendants in certain child sexual abuse legal cases and in which it can be demonstrated by the public school district or voluntary foster care agency that no insurance policy for the covered period can be located after a good-faith effort to do so has been made, there was a monetary judgment issued or settlement agreement with regard to such action and where it can be demonstrated by the public school district or voluntary foster care agency that payment in full of such judgment or settlement would put a substantial burden on the district's or agency's ability to execute its mission and negatively impact its existing student population.