June 14, 2023 — The final Legislative Session for both houses in New York State was on June 8, 2023. Many bills were passed by both houses, including several that benefit PEF members.
Most importantly, both houses passed the PEF Contract Pay Bill (S.7576/A.7766). If the contract is ratified by PEF members this summer, the Pay Bill authorizes the financial resources for all the benefits in the contract.
Additional bills PEF lobbied for that passed include:
-
- S.5664/A.4720 requires licensed public inspectors to be on site for all design-build projects;
- S.5486/A.6845 directs the Department of Civil Service to distribute notices of competitive examinations more broadly;
- S.1039/A.3748-A provides an impartial arbitrator selected from a list maintained by the Public Employment Relations Board for the disciplinary hearings of State employees. This bill also protects civil service employees from being suspended without pay during such proceedings;
- S.6402/A.4969 establishes a commission to study and investigate Artificial Intelligence, or AI.
Additionally, PEF’s efforts to keep other bills from passing or becoming more negatively impactful to members have been successful. The EMPIRE Act, which would have allowed private associations to pursue labor law violations on behalf of the Department of Labor, did not pass. Likewise, a piece of the “30 by 30” Title Insurance Requirement was kept at bay so far, thanks to PEF. The legislation would have required the Office of the Attorney General to secure private title insurance in order to prevent the need for due diligence before the state’s payment for private property regarding the 30 by 30 law.
The New York State Assembly is set to return on June 20 to debate additional legislation. The Senate has neither set a date, nor shown intention, to return for additional legislative sessions, but there is still a possibility that it will.