During committee activity in the Assembly, Democrats blocked several Republican proposals targeting the quality-of-life concerns impacting everyday New Yorkers. Legislation that tackles issues ranging from congestion pricing and retail theft to public safety and the migrant crisis was summarily rejected by Assembly Democrats.
“Albany Democrats won’t even look in the direction of legislation that makes people safer, puts guardrails on the migrant crisis or supports the men and women of law enforcement. It’s yet another example of how the public interest runs a distant second to party loyalty for members of the Majority Conference,” said Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Pulaski). “It’s not surprising Democrats blocked Republican bills in committee, but they offer nothing in the way of solutions. Public opinion polling shows nearly 60% of New Yorkers believe the quality of life here has gotten worse in the past year. Today’s committee work gave us a clear indication of why and how One-Party Rule continues to fail us.”
In November, a Marist College poll reported 59% of New Yorkers feel the quality of life in the Empire State has deteriorated over the past year, while a Citizen Budget Commission survey released in March showed just 30% of New York City residents are satisfied with their quality-of-life conditions. A Siena College poll in February showed crime and the migrant crisis among the top three concerns on the minds of New Yorkers. On Tuesday, Assembly Democrats blocked twenty Republican-sponsored measures – the majority of which addressed crime, migrants or quality-of-life issues – from moving out of various committees and to a full vote in the Chamber.
The list of Republican-sponsored proposals blocked in Assembly committees includes:
• A.8414 (Beephan): Congestion Pricing Exemptions – Establishes a central business district toll exemption for officers and employees of the city of New York, first responders, physicians, nurses and people entering the city for medical treatment
• A.8034 (Barclay): Protecting Counties and Municipalities From “Right to Shelter” Confusion – Requires local governing bodies in New York state to opt-in to accepting migrants from other jurisdictions
• A.8283 (Barclay): Expanding Bail Qualifying Offenses – Ensures that persons who commit hate crimes or make terroristic threats or threats of mass harm are held accountable for their actions by restoring judicial discretion to judges when making pre-trial release decisions, allowing threats of mass harm to be treated as hate crimes and providing enhanced penalties for these offenses to make the punishment proportional to the crime
• A.5395 (Brabenac): Green Light Law Repeal – Repeals the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act
• A.5592 (Brabenac): Criminal Possession of Fentanyl – Creates the class E felony of criminal possession of fentanyl, which is committed when a person knowingly or intentionally manufactures, distributes, dispenses or possesses with intent to manufacture, distribute or dispense fentanyl or any derivative
• A.8399 (Brown, A.): TAP Prohibition for Antisemitic Activity – Prohibits the granting of tuition assistance awards to any student who has knowingly engaged in certain antisemitic activities
• A.8594 (Brown, K.): Smash and Grab – Establishes the crime of coordinated petit larceny, permits a principal to be eligible to be held on bail for coordinated petit larceny and creates a public service campaign on larceny
• A.6792 (DeStefano): Hate Crimes Against First Responders – Designates offenses against law enforcement, emergency medical services personnel and/or firefighters as hate crimes, thereby increasing the penalty for the offense
• A.7976 (Fitzpatrick): Employee Protection Concerning Shoplifters – Prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for confronting an individual to prevent a theft or the unlawful taking of goods, wares or merchandise
• A.5336 (Flood): Supervised Injection Sites Ban – Prohibits supervised injection sites
• A.8828 (Flood): “Public School Instructional Materials Review and Transparency Act” – Establishes a review process for formal complaints by parents or guardians concerning instructional material
• A.4146 (Lemondes): Opioid Rehabilitation Facility – Relates to the establishment and operations of a dedicated opioid rehabilitation facility and the diversion of certain criminal defendants to such facility
• A.4632 (McGowan): Victim Right to Attend Parole Board Meetings – Requires notice to crime victims that he or she has the right to attend interviews between the Board of Parole and incarcerated individual; requires the Board of Parole to review victim impact statements
• A.6929 (McGowan): Hate Crimes at Houses of Worship – Expands the criteria for a hate crime to include specified offenses or violations committed on the grounds of a church, synagogue, mosque, or other house of worship
• A.7991 (Mikulin): Murder of a Minor – Ensures individuals convicted of committing murder of a minor (under 18 years old) in the first or second degree are sentenced to life without parole
• A.8279 (Ra): “DSA Act” – Enacts the “Dismantling Student Antisemitism Act,” which requires state colleges to implement programs and training to curtain incidents of antisemitism on campus; institutions that fail to comply would lose public funding
• A.8013 (Reilly): Protecting Locations Serving Children – Provides that schools, child day cares, day care centers, or community-based organizations that support activities for children under the age of 18 cannot serve as a shelter for migrants
• A.7319A (Slater): Migrant Registration Requirements – Requires residents of the state, who are foreign refugees, to register with the office of temporary and disability assistance
• A.7985 (Slater): “Death By Dealer” – Establishes the crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance resulting in death
• A.5186 (Tannousis): Protecting Law Enforcement and Their Families – Establishes the crimes of harassment of a law enforcement officer or a member of the officer’s family in the first degree and second degree
Members of the Assembly within The Messenger’s purview included in this list are: Keith Brown (R-Northport), Joe DeStefano (R-Medford), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-St. James), and Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson Station).