Sen. Pat Fahy

Establishes the New York state youth in agriculture and entrepreneurship summer employment program to provide students with the opportunity to be educated on the agricultural industry and alternative career paths and to provide agricultural work experience and entrepreneurship work experience.

Regulates energy consumption by data centers; requires annual disclosure reporting; prohibits incentives in fossil fuel power purchase agreements with utilities.

Requires the office of court administration, clerks, and all other records custodians to develop policies and procedures to ensure no identifying information or documentation relating to name change actions or sex designation change actions is visible or retrievable in any electronic database maintained by the state of New York or a subdivision thereof.

Maddy summaryThis bill extends the Department of Environmental Conservation's authority to manage squid populations until December 31, 2029. The change updates the existing legal timeframe for these management efforts, allowing the department to continue regulating squid fishing and conservation activities under current rules. By amending the Environmental Conservation Law, the legislation ensures that oversight of squid resources remains in place for an additional period. The act takes effect immediately upon passage.

Maddy summaryThis bill grants the Department of Environmental Conservation the authority to create and enforce regulations for managing sharks in state waters. Under the new rules, the department can set limits on shark size, catch amounts, and fishing seasons, while also controlling where and how sharks can be taken, transported, and sold. These regulations must align with existing state laws and comply with federal and regional fishery management plans. The changes take effect immediately and allow the department to update its approach to shark conservation until the end of 2029.

Prohibits certain financial institutions from charging a fee for making monthly, semi-monthly, and biweekly payments or for changing the frequency of mortgage payments.

Requires the state office for the aging to maintain a public facing state master plan on aging dashboard on the public website of the office, which includes real-time information and updates on each proposal in such master plan including legislative and budgetary progress.

Grants immunity from liability for personal injury and property damage sustained by a crime victim upon the premises of a business or nonprofit while seeking assistance, except in the case of gross negligence.

Establishes a public online registry of vacant commercial storefronts; provides information to current and prospective small business owners seeking to purchase or lease a vacant storefront for a small business location.

Authorizes electronic absentee ballot applications for military voters and special federal voters; removes requirements that the federal post card application form be included with certain ballot application and ballots; requires institutions of higher education to provide students studying abroad with information on how to vote from abroad.