Sen. Kristen Gonzalez

Relates to establishing the housing access voucher program; provides that the commissioner of the division of housing and community renewal shall implement a program of rental assistance in the form of housing vouchers for eligible individuals and families who are homeless or who face an imminent loss of housing; provides that the commissioner shall designate housing access voucher local administrators in the state to administer the program.

Maddy summaryS 4799 creates a legal right for New Yorkers to sue fossil fuel companies that contributed to climate change through their activities. It applies to companies that emitted at least one billion metric tons of greenhouse gases from 1989 until the bill's effective date, excluding public utilities and government entities. The bill establishes new provisions in state law, including definitions and a "right of action," to enable lawsuits for climate-related damages like health impacts and property loss. This would allow individuals and communities to seek compensation for harms directly linked to fossil fuel emissions.

Enacts The New Deal for CUNY; increases the ratio of faculty and mental health counselors to full-time students; requires that certain amounts of tuition be replaced by federal, state, and city funds.

Establishes the teachers' fossil fuel divestment act; requires the New York state teachers' retirement system to divest the retirement system of any stocks, securities, equities, assets, or other obligations of corporations or companies included on an exclusion list of coal producers and oil and gas producers.

Prohibits governmental entities from entering into agreements to house individuals in immigration detention facilities; requires governmental entities to terminate existing contracts for the detention of individuals in immigration detention facilities.

Establishes an unemployment bridge program and an unemployment bridge program fund to provide wage replacement to workers that do not qualify for unemployment insurance or other worker wage assistance programs and who have lost a major source of income due to lost work (Part A); establishes the "Digital Ad Tax Act (DATA)" creating a tax on digital advertising services (Part B).

Requires that a claimant alleging that the contents of a website or mobile application that describes goods and services provided at a place of public accommodation constitutes an unlawful discriminatory practice against visually and hearing impaired individuals serve written notice on the owner and provide 60 days to cure the alleged violation prior to commencing an action.

Relates to requiring that certain information be provided to operators of limited use motorcycles concerning rules of the road and consequences for non-compliance.

Maddy summaryThis bill, S 3144, expands the required service area for accessible paratransit transportation. It mandates that accessible buses be available within a service area measuring three miles from any bus line operated by a transportation authority or its subsidiaries. This provision applies to both existing requirements for a percentage of accessible buses and the mandate for 100% accessible fixed-route buses, aiming to ensure broader geographical access for transportation-disabled persons, including those in wheelchairs.

Requires the department of education to develop school health and mental health professionals to student ratios in public schools for students who do not receive services pursuant to the individuals with disabilities education act.