New York Bills: 2023-2024 Legislative Session

Accountants

A04189 & S02473: Relates to certified public accountants

• Status: Passed Assembly
• Purpose: "This bill would amend the education law to allow non-CPAs to be minority owners of CPA firms, consistent with 49 other states and jurisdictions."
• Active version: S02473A
• Justification: "By enacting this legislation, New York would be joining 49 other states and jurisdictions in allowing for non-CPA ownership of firms. In 2012, Connecticut enacted similar legislation, leaving New York as the last state in the region without this proposal in law. The provisions of the legislation are consistent with and modeled after sections provided in the Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA).
     This legislation is needed so that New York CPA firms can better serve New York clients. As global competition, the complexity of business structures and rapid technological breakthroughs continue to redefine commerce, accounting firms of all sizes use the services of non-CPAs to help them navigate the dynamic terrain of today's business environment. These non-CPA professionals are critically important to the effectiveness of a CPA practice. In today's world, firms want to provide the best quality audits, and this very often requires the skills of non-CPAs, such as systems engineers and other IT professiobals, valuation specialists, actuaries, industry experts and others. Clients have come to expect that these specialists will participate in the CPA firm's work and the audit work product is better because of it.
     CPA firm work, however, remains just that, the work of a CPA firm. This legislation limits the percentage of allowed non-CPA firm owners, ensuring that non-licensees can only ever have a minority interest in the firm. Further, enacting this legislation will even the playing field so that New York CPA firms will be permitted to have the same options to diversify their firm resources as firms in neighboring states who come into New York to practice under mobility. In addition, smaller CPA firms will find it easier to have a succession plan as they transition to the next generation.
     Many clients now expect that a CPA firm will employ non-CPAs with significant expertise in specialized areas such as information technology. Therefore, CPA firms have a real need to attract and retain the best and brightest" in these areas and to incorporate these individuals into the firm's culture. The vast majority of states and jurisdictions have recognized this need and have implemented one method of doing this which is to give an individual an ownership stake in the firm so that all of these individuals have a shared interest in the long-term viability of the firm. This bill will benefit firms, the profession and the state by attracting additional business and job opportunities."
• Fiscal Implications for State and Local Governments: "The non-licensee fee will raise approximately $1M for the state education department for each triennial registration period."

Attorney Trust Accounts

A02149 & S06849: Prohibits a service charge or minimum balance requirement for attorney trust accounts

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "An attorney in possession of any asset or sum of money belonging to a client is a fiduciary and must not commingle client funds with his or her own funds or personal or business accounts. Furthermore, an attorney must maintain in a bank or trust company within the State of New York in his or her own name, or in the name of the firm of attorneys of which he or she is a member, a special account independent from his or her personal accounts.
  
  In many areas of the state, banks require minimum deposits or service fees for the maintenance of these accounts. Such requirements can be financially burdensome to the small practicing attorney who handles only a few cases which would require the collection and deposit of clients' funds.
  
  This bill would ameliorate this situation by providing that no bank or trust company regulated by New York State shall charge a service fee or require a minimum balance on an attorney trust account provided that such account is required by law and that no more than fifteen debit or credit transactions per month are made in connection with such account."

Banks

A01478 & S02769: Requires banks to send account notifications in certain circumstances

• Status: In Committee

A01578: Establishes joint and survivorship accounts

• Status: In Committee
• Hani's thoughts: Convenience accounts are inconvenient because they only create confusion. They should be repealed, not made the default. Convenience accounts are superfluous since they are the functional equivalent of an account with a signed power of attorney, yet they provide none of the protections of powers of attorney. If there is an issue with a right of survivorship standard, then that should be changed. If the problem is with the current moiety rule, then that can be changed. There are opportunities to change existing law without enacting convenience accounts as the default. Just pause and think: In a convenience account, what legal protections does the account holder have against "the other person"? Is the "other person" an agent? Does "the other person" have to act in the best interest of the account holder? A bank account with a power of attorney is superior in every respect to a convenience account.

A01683 & S06433: Safeguards cash accounts for people with developmental disabilities in a facility under the control of the commissioner of mental health, the commissioner of the office for people with developmental disabilities and the commissioner of alcoholism and substance abuse services.

• Status: In Committee

A02087 & S06697: Relates to small business savings accounts

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "More than 170,000 small businesses were lost after the economic downturn of 2008 and many that survived are still having trouble obtaining loans and credit to help them stay open. The economic climate that small businesses are facing has only grown more challenging as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  As New York continues to aggressively respond to the impacts of the pandemic, it is imperative that we learn the lessons from this public health crisis and be prepared for future emergency situations. This bill seeks to serve as a remedy for the challenges that small businesses face by encouraging them to put money into a special savings account that can be used tax-free in times of economic hardship, for the purposes of job retention or creation, and during natural disasters."

A03248: Requires a written notification of overdraft fees charges to certain account holders

• Status: In Committee

A02087 & S06697: Relates to small business savings accounts

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "More than 170,000 small businesses were lost after the economic downturn of 2008 and many that survived are still having trouble obtaining loans and credit to help them stay open. The economic climate that small businesses are facing has only grown more challenging as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  As New York continues to aggressively respond to the impacts of the pandemic, it is imperative that we learn the lessons from this public health crisis and be prepared for future emergency situations. This bill seeks to serve as a remedy for the challenges that small businesses face by encouraging them to put money into a special savings account that can be used tax-free in times of economic hardship, for the purposes of job retention or creation, and during natural disasters."

A03248: Requires a written notification of overdraft fees charges to certain account holders

• Status: In Committee

Capacity

A03616 & S2932: Conforms and improves the process for determining incapacity

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "By enacting Chapter 8 of the Laws of 2010 known as the Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA), the Legislature significantly improved the laws in New York relating to decision-making for patients who lack capacity and who do not have a health care agent. Specifically, the FHCDA clarified the authority of a close family member or close friend to consent to treatment for such patients and allowed such person to direct the withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining treatment in limited and clearly defined circumstances, based on sound standards. This bill draws upon growing experience with the FHCDA and its interaction with other health care decision-making laws. It makes technical and coordinating amendments and other improvements to those laws with respect to determining the incapacity of patients to make health care decisions.
  
  One important improvement relates to the qualifications of professionals who can determine the incapacity of a patient based on a developmental disability. Hospitals and nursing homes have found it extremely difficult to locate professionals with the special qualifications now required by this law for determining the incapacity of a patient with a developmental disability, especially in urgent or off-hours situations. This amendment would let those types of providers establish the necessary qualifications for that service, just as they determine qualifications for other professional services in their institutions and programs."

Caregivers

S03530: Expands which individuals qualify to be an individual's personal assistant for the purposes of consume directed personal assistance programs to include an eligible individual's attorney-in-fact, health care proxy, or legal guardian.

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "New York State is currently facing an unprecedented shortage of home healthcare workers. According to a report by the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of of New York State (CDPAANYS), 74 percent of New Yorkers needing home health aides were unable to retain a worker in 2021.
  
  Eligible individuals can explore hiring caretakers through the consumer directed personal assistance programs (CDPAP), which allows individuals flexibility and freedom in choosing their caregiver. Through this program, relatives are generally eligible to be selected as a caretaker and reimbursed through Medicaid. In many cases, this is advantageous as the relative is more intimately familiar with the patient.
  
  However, due to the way CDPAP is written in state law, parents of children between the ages of 18-21 are barred from being caretakers, under the clause that they are legally responsible for the individual's care and support. In many other situations, individuals above the age of 18 are considered to be legally independent, regardless of if they reside at the same location as their parents. The same individual should not be treated different simply because they now require a caretaker due to circumstances beyond their control.
  
  This legislation will rectify this issue and allow parents and adult relatives of children above the age of 18 to become their caretaker under the consumer directed personal assistance program (CDPAP). While the number of individuals that fit the description may be low, and the CDPA program may not directly fit the needs of every eligible individual or their families, this will allow for parents and direct relatives who are willing and able to be a caretaker for their loved ones explore those options. This will ensure all options are available to get these individuals the care they need and deserve."

Courts

A03773 & S02602: Provides that for settlements that require a court order the order shall provide for the payment of interest on the settlement amount at the statutory rate

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: “Section 5003-a of the CPLR sets forth times within which a settling defendant must pay all sums due following the tender of a release and stipulation of discontinuance in an action. Difficulties arise, however, with cases involving an infant, an incompetent or the death of a plaintiff, where the release cannot be tendered without prior court approval. Usually it takes at least several weeks (occasionally, several months or longer) between the proposed settlement and court approval. Thus, the anomaly exists that the only litigants who do not receive their settlement monies 'promptly' are those who are under the courts' protection.
  
  The interest rate set forth in the proposed amendments is the statutory rate of interest on a judgment. Interest begins to run from the fifteenth day, or in the case of a state or municipal entity from the sixty-first day, following the day that the proposed settlement is entered into and continues to run until the day that the order or judgment is signed. Provision is also made for annuity payments. Once the order or judgment is signed, the defendant then will have 14 days or, in the case of a state or municipal entity, 61 days, to make payment.
  
  The date and terms of the proposed settlement shall be set forth in a writing or court transcript, a copy of which shall be provided to the court in order to calculate the days of interest."

A03457 & S02719: Raises the jurisdictional amount for small claims cases

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Raises the jurisdictional amount for small claims cases from $3,000 to $10,000 in justice court."
• Justification: "New York has the largest concentration of attorneys in the United States, with 179,600 registered attorneys, and 155,369 of those attorneys have addresses in the state. However, despite having 17% of the population and 80% of the land space in the state, there are only 6,176 attorneys serving in the large swaths of rural New York, according to attorney-registration data. In reality, the number of rural attorneys that actually offer legal services to individual members of the public is much smaller than that statistic indicates, since a sizable proportion of these attorneys do not offer legal services to the general public, such as district attorneys and members of the judiciary. This is corroborated by data from rural county bars.
  
  The small claims limit was last changed in 1977, when it was raised to $3,000. Despite this, inflation and the cost of living has increased substantially since the 1970's, making the $3,000 cap all but meaningless. As a result of the stagnating cap permitted in small claims, litigants are increasingly forced into the Supreme Court, where filing fees are much higher than in small claims courts. For many rural New Yorkers, the burdensome cost to filing in higher courts prevents them from optimally utilizing the court system. An additional consequence of this stagnating cap has been the overburdening of the higher courts as they are forced to handle an increasing number of cases. This bill seeks to bridge the gap between the reality of small claims in New York with the legislative maximum amount that can be brought in small claims. As a result of this legislation, the burden on higher courts will be lessened as people use their local small claims courts. Additionally, raising the limit would allow rural practitioners to handle more cases in their community while keeping costs down for their clients.

S03506: Renames the supreme court the superior court and the court of appeals the supreme court

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Due to the prominence of the Supreme Court of the United States, many residents in New York State falsely believe that the Supreme Court of the State of New York is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. This is untrue, as the highest court is the New York Court of Appeals.
  
  While a seemingly inconsequential discrepancy, this causes misrepresentation and confusion in the general populace when high profile cases are decided in the Supreme Court, leading many to believe that a case has finality.
  
  This legislation will propose a constitutional amendment to change the name of the Supreme Court in NYS to the superior court, and will change the name of the Court of Appeals of NYS to the Supreme Court in the NYS Constitution, thereby rectifying this extremely common misconception."

A05366 & S05414: Authorizes the legislature to increase the number of justices of the supreme court in any judicial district

• Status: in Committee
• Justification: "The current constitutional cap on the number of supreme court justices has placed undue strain on the judicial system, resulting in a severe backlog of cases. Judges across the state are overburdened and families are left in limbo awaiting legal resolution. These delays disproportionately harm people of color and the economically disadvantaged.
  
  Two jurisdictions (Manhattan and the Bronx) have reached their Supreme Court limit.
  
  This legislation will increase the maximum number of Supreme Court justices and family court judges, providing more flexibility for judicial districts to meet the needs of the public. This will expedite court processes, improve the public's experience of the judicial system, and ultimately ensure that the courts are better able to serve all New Yorkers."

S05998: Increases the number of supreme court justice in the thirteenth judicial district to ten

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "On December 5, 2007, the Governor signed legislation, Chapter 690 of the Laws of 2007 creating the 13th Judicial District. Under this law, Staten Island (Richmond County) was allowed to have to have three Supreme Court Justices. Under the State Constitution, a Supreme Court District must have one Justice for every 50,000 residents. Based on the most recent U.S. Census data, Staten Island is allowed 10 Justices. By increasing the number of Justices authorized by the New York Constitution, Staten Island should receive more judges to handle ever-heavier caseloads. This bill is the final step in the process to give Staten island the required 10 Justice positions for the 13th Judicial District."

A00272 & S06843: Provides counsel appointed in the supreme court or surrogate's court for certain family members shall be compensated in the same manner as certain law guardians

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: 'Law guardians who are appointed to evaluate, protect, and report to the Court on the best interests of the child/children in a litigated proceeding in the Supreme Court deserve to be compensated in the same manner as law guardians in the Family Courts of New York State."

Death Remains

A02850: Relates to the disposition of cremated remains

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Permits a funeral director with written consent of a regulated cemetery corporation to provide remains which remain unclaimed after one hundred twenty days to such corporation for disposition."

S01486: Relates to the priority of persons with responsibility to determine the disposition of human remains

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "When active duty and activated guard/reserve members complete the federally mandated DD Form 93 in accordance with Section 564 of Public Law 109-163, they designate a person authorized to direct disposition of their remains in event of death. However, New York State does not currently recognize the federal form as an acceptable document for service members, therefore, there have been several instances of civil actions between family members over the ultimate disposition of a fallen service member's remains. In order to eliminate this conflict between state law and federal law, and to avoid bringing further hardship to the family of a fallen service member, this bill would amend state law to recognize the DD Form 93 as an acceptable written instrument for service members, notwithstanding other parts of state law regarding disposition."

Education Savings Accounts

A02465 & S00510: Relates to a tax credit for employers who contribute to a college choice tuition savings account on behalf of an employee

• Status: In Committee

A05748 & S06729: Allows withdrawals from family tuition accounts to pay for treatment of substance use disorder for the designated beneficiary

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Approximately 1.4 million New Yorkers suffer from a substance abuse disorder. The heroin and opioid epidemic has fueled the increased need for substance abuse services in the state. In fact, the state documented a 115% increase in heroin treatment admissions in Upstate New York and a 116% increase on Long Island between the years 2005-2014, according to a 2016 report from the New York State Association of Counties.
  
  Substance abuse services can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000 a month depending on the facility and the type of treatment provided, according to DrugRehab.com. These exorbitant costs are crippling families who are willing to do whatever it takes to save their loved one's life. Media reports detail anguished families spending their life's savings, draining retirement accounts, and going into massive debt trying to save their loved ones from the clutches of addiction. 'Even with insurance coverage, opioid addiction treatment costs can crush a family. Americans covered by employer health insurance received $2.6 billion worth of treatment for opioid addiction and overdoses in 2016, with insurance covering approximately $2.3 billion and families paying $355 million out-of-pocket, according to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. More than half of this spending was for the treatment of workers children.
  
  Parents need more options to help them pay for rehabilitative services for their children's substance abuse or alcohol dependency without going into paralyzing debt. Being able to access funds put away for college in a 529 family tuition account will go a long way into helping these families pay for the treatment to help their children battle the disease of addiction."

S03213: Establishes a committee to study the feasibility of funding a kindergarten to college/career ready program and a universal college savings account

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Education can prepare a child for a successful, productive life. Few things have a bigger impact than a college education. College grads have a big advantage over kids who end their educations after high school. They obtain better jobs, avoid layoffs, and earn higher salaries, which can help build stronger communities.
  
  Many children are born into families without savings or assets, and they may not have access to financial products. By establishing a Kindergarten to College universal children's savings program in the New York, the State will help students save and plan for college starting on the first day of school.
  
  This bill will establish a commission to study the feasibility funding a kindergarten to college/career ready program and a universal college savings account"

S03330: Establishes authority for early childcare savings accounts

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "According to the Economic Policy Institute, New York is the sixth most expensive state for infant care, requiring an average expenditure of $15,394 per year -- $7,456 more per year than in-state public school tuition. On average, a family making the state median income would have to spend 18% of their income to cover the cost of child care for an infant, and 13% of their income to cover the cost of child care for a toddler.
  
  In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determined that, to be affordable, childcare should cost no more than 7% of a family's income. With New York's median income at $69,651 and the average cost of childcare in New York at $15,394 -- 21% of a median income - it is clear that childcare is not affordable for most New Yorkers.
  
  A flexible savings account would allow young couples and newly-formed families to save for childcare expenses and receive tax-advantaged benefits. Such a savings account would allow New Yorkers to plan for, and make possible, such a crucial future expense. When implemented, this program will be similar to the 529 college savings program that allows families to save for college costs.
  
  Additionally, accessible childcare benefits the state's economy in many ways. It allows both parents to remain in the workforce, increases work- place productivity, and creates job opportunities for childcare workers. While there are some free childcare programs, the demand for such programs often vastly exceeds the supply. The implementation of this savings program would emphasize the importance of financial planning for children, reduce gender imbalance in the workplace, and take steps toward making high-quality child care affordable."

Elder Law

A00369 & S05515: Prohibits an individual convicted of a crime involving elder abuse from inheriting from the elder's estate as a distributee

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Elder abuse is a nationwide issue that affects millions of people each year. Researchers and advocates collect data and compile statistics to help better understand this widespread problem. By studying these statistics, families can learn why abuse takes place, which groups of seniors run a higher risk of being abused, and how to keep their loved ones safe.
  
  As of 2018, 52 million people in the U.S. were over the age of 65. Nearly 1 in 10 of these people suffer from elder abuse every year, according to some estimates. Anyone can commit elder abuse and this legislation is addressing caregivers and their ability not to benefit from abuse. Elder abuse takes many forms, including physical injuries, financial exploitation, and even sexual battery. The intended ramification of this legislation would prohibit a caregiver who has a familial relation to the elder to take any inheritance that passed through without a will."

A02115 & S0649: Enacts the Unpredictable Nursing Home Inspection Act

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Requires the department of health to conduct 40% of its inspections on nursing homes outside of business hours; requires department of health inspections of nursing homes to be conducted without prior notice to a nursing home; requires an annual nursing home inspection report."

A07467 & S0466: Relates to the use of psychotropic medications in nursing homes and adult care facilities; imposes limits as to time and documentation; requires informed consent under certain circumstances

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Under section 2503-c(3) of the Public Health Law, patients residing in nursing homes have the right to be fully informed of their condition and any proposed treatment, to refuse treatment, and to be free from chemical restraints unless such a prescription is consistent with certain requirements that limit duration and guide use necessitated by an emergency. Psychotropic medications are drugs that affect brain activities associated with mental processes and behavior including anti-psychotics, antidepressants, antianxiety drugs and hypnotics.
  
  Spurred by published reports, the Assembly Committee on Health held a public hearing in February 2015 to examine the use of psychotropic drugs in nursing homes. Consensus emerged that in far too many instances, psychotropic drugs are used without a differential diagnosis of mental illness, in order to quiet and calm patients who may be simply-upset or excitable. Given that activities and diversions have been proven to effectively reduce disruptions related to simple anxiety, dementia and emotional upset, it is not in many patients' interest to expose them to the dangerous side effects of psychotropic drugs which include cognitive decline and addiction.
  
  This bill would require that before such drugs are ordered for a patient in a nursing home or an adult, care facility, the patient or their lawful surrogate be fully informed of the nature and seriousness of his or her condition, the anticipated benefit from the medication, the dosage and duration of the prescription, the probability, nature and degree of side effects, the reasonable alternatives to the drug and why the health care professional prefers the drug in this instance, and that the patient has the right to refuse consent for the drug, or later to revoke their consent. The consent would be written.
  
  Adult care facilities, including assisted living and adult homes, share many similarities with nursing homes in terms of the needs, vulnerability and isolation of the residents. :t fs appropriate to extend the protections of this legislation to adult care facility residents, yet limit the emergency order to nursing homes. Allowing family members beyond those who are already the health care agent or surrogate for the patient to require notification adds another layer of accountability and assures that patients' quality of life will be protected and optimized.
  
  Reference: Left Behind: The Impact of The Failure To Fulfill The Promise of The National Campaign To Improve Dementia Care; Long Term Community Care Coalition; 12/22/2014."

S04888: Relates to recovery of overpayment of certain assistance; repealer

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "This act will simplify the Public Assistance and Medicaid overpayment recovery and collections process in New York and provide much needed due process and consumer protections for benefits recipients. Overpayment recoveries are intended to allow the State to recover for benefits that were received by individuals and families when they were not eligible for those benefits. However, the current overpayment recovery process in New York is deeply flawed.
  
  In many cases, beneficiaries who are subject to overpayments were actually eligible for all or part of their alleged overpayment time period or were approved for benefits in error through no fault of their own. Often, budgeting rules and protections are misapplied in determining liability, claims are not properly calculated or validated, and beneficiaries are not given the opportunity to challenge the claims against them and to prove eligibility. The stakes for beneficiaries facing an overpayment are high: most overpayments are in the thousands of dollars and many in the tens of thousands. Still, due to the lack of protections for beneficiaries in this process, individuals frequently are pressured into signing settlement agreements for which they are not liable or that they cannot afford. Others are sued and many people are subject to default judgments, even in cases with little or no proof that a debt is owed. For many of these beneficiaries, an overpayment debt may push them and their family back into poverty just when they were getting on their feet or the debt may permanently trap them in poverty and threaten their wellbeing.
  
  Those that are the most impacted by the current process include immigrants, those with limited English proficiency, and the working poor. Other states which recover benefits overpayments from recipients have more robust due process protections and procedures for beneficiaries. Beneficiaries in New York should have equally robust protections. This Act will not hinder a public welfare official's ability to recover benefits incorrectly received, but instead will ensure that any action or proceeding to recover Public Assistance and Medicaid overpayments are valid and vetted and that beneficiaries receive proper protections, including ensuring that any overpayment debt ultimately imposed will not threaten a beneficiary's and their family's ability to survive."

S06838: Enacts the "Elderly Crime Prevention and Control Trust Fund Act"

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "The steady, but no less dramatic, rise in the criminal victimization of the elderly requires this Legislature to take affirmative steps to ensure the physical safety and emotional well-being of this crime-vulnerable population. This increased sense of responsibility comes at a time when we see the traditional funding source of elderly crime prevention, detection and enforcement programs being redirected into tax cuts and national defense spending. This bill seeks to develop a mechanism to meet the needs of protection for our elderly by requiring the convicted criminal to bear larger burden as a result of his/her actions. By adding a mandatory fine upon conviction, and in turn segregating these monies in a dedicated fund available principally for crime prevention, detection and enforcement activities, this legislature can take a major step toward reaffirming our elderly's safety.
  
  Additionally, this concept enhances the planning and delivery capabilities of frontline service-providers such as municipal police departments and community-based organizations. This bill suggests that with potential annual revenues in the $4-5 million range, a legitimate and concerted effort can be mounted to obviate the fear anddlitiless that is forcing our elderly to be prisoners in their own homes.
  
  These themes send a bold message to the criminals who prey upon the elderly, to the police and support agencies that must deal with these problems, and to the elderly themselves, that this scourge can, and will, be dealt with through the full resources and commitment of this Legislature."

Employers

A00836 & S02518: Prohibits an employer from requesting that an employee or applicant disclose any means for accessing an electronic personal account

• Status: Passed Senate
• Justification: "Employers are beginning to use various types of new tools in decisions dealing with hiring and disciplinary actions regarding prospective and current employees. Recently, there have been reports of employers demanding login information, including username and password information to popular social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as login information to email accounts and other highly personal accounts. This information is being used as a condition of hiring, as well as promotions, lateral movement within companies, and in matters relating to disciplinary action including, but not limited to, firing of individuals.
  
  This type of request can lead to issues of unfair and discriminatory hiring and admissions practices and constitutes a severe invasion of privacy on behalf of the employer. Employees have the right to make this information either public or private through the websites. They should have every right to maintain this privacy when it comes to their workplace or during an interview or admissions process. In these economic times many people do not have the option to walk away from a job and are forced to submit to this request for fear they will not be hired otherwise. This bill would remedy this issue and leave consumers with their right to privacy and reduce the risk of unfair and discriminatory hiring."

S06851: Establishes a small business tax credit for the employment of unemployed veterans

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Establishes a five thousand dollar to twenty-five thousand dollar tax credit for the hiring and retaining of unemployed veterans for a minimum thirty-five hours per week, minimum one year employment period."
• Justification: "Returning veterans often experience greater challenges in searching and obtaining quality employment. Traits learned in serving our country are more often times than not applicable to offered positions of employment. Factor in the general myth human resources departments exponentially forgo interviewing candidates unemployable for six months or more. The odds are unfortunately staked against these veterans seeking quality employment.
  
  In March 2011, the Department of Labor determined in a report that the national unemployment rate among eighteen to twenty-four year-old veterans is 21%, which is 4 1/2% higher than, unemployment of non-veterans in the same age range. Additionally, over 15% of veterans who have served post September 11, 2001 are unemployed, equating to a 2 1/2% increase from 2010.
  
  As it is our moral obligation to thank our veterans for their service to our great country, it is our intent to stimulate employment of their services through the legislative authorization of a small business tax credit for businesses that hire veterans for a minimum thirty-five hours"

Entities

A00307: Exempts certain accounts established by not-for-profit corporations from application to the satisfaction of money judgments for bankruptcy purposes

• Status: In Committee

A02612 & S01146: Enacts the corporate accountability for tax expenditures act

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Every year, New York State spends billions of dollars on economic development incentives and subsidies, mostly for large businesses. These subsidies take many forms: corporate income tax credits, property tax abatements, low-interest loans, empire zone credits, rebates, utility rate reductions, deferrals on taxes that would otherwise be paid, incentives to invest in research and development, training grants, land site preparation and infrastructure financing. In return, companies promise economic development, especially the creation of new jobs and/or promise assistance to lower income and/or elderly New Yorkers.
  
  There is currently no comprehensive system of standards or oversight for the distribution of economic development subsidies and incentives. These subsidies are usually offered through off-budget public authorities (of which there are more than 600 in New York State) or as tax expenditures built in the State budget, but rarely approved as freestanding legislation. Decisions about the allocation of economic incentives and evaluation of the economic benefits to residents of New York State provided by those incentives are not subject to significant public or legislative scrutiny or review. In fact, it is currently not possible for New York State to accurately calculate the cost effectiveness of these incentives. Once granted, measures initiated in the name of economic development are seldom audited nor do they sunset, especially those that relate to tax breaks.
  
  The state's structural budget problems mean that we must ensure public transparency and ongoing review of expended dollars and lost state revenues. We need to evaluate whether these models are working. A comprehensive cost/benefit analysis would detail the benefits that are provided in comparison to the other proposed uses of state funds. The impact of inequities in our tax policies due to the use of industry specific tax expenditures should also be addressed. We need to exercise due diligence through legislative and public oversight to make sure that programs are run efficiently and that the state gets the best return for the public for each state dollar that is spent. Dollars spent on economic development incentives and tax breaks should be reviewed with the same degree of scrutiny as dollars spent on all other government programs.
  
  Many of the corporate tax expenditures were enacted for the purpose of encouraging investment and job creation in New York. However, the efficacy of the expenditures have yet to be analyzed and measured. By having the Tax Department submit a report on all of the State's tax expenditures, credits, deductions, exclusions, exemptions or any other tax benefits to the Senate, Assembly and the Governor, informed decisions can be made based on the efficacy of the existing programs. All too frequently, the state has provided subsidies, loans and tax breaks to companies that then failed to create jobs as promised. The accountability procedures for keeping track of the subsidy process are weak. General outcome reports, which are meant to provide details of the state's job-creation and tax-credit programs, are not reported, are incomplete, not filed annually, or ignore the details of the reporting requirements. Comprehensive audits, prepared by the comptroller's office, found that 93 of 152 program-specific reports were never completed and only 15 of 173 subsidiaries connected to Empire State Development (ESD) filed an annual report at all.
  
  Critics claim that corporations would relocate to New York without large tax breaks and that targeted economic development incentives fail to produce economic growth. Economic Development Councils (EDC) have pledged more than $4.4 billion to 5,300 projects since 2011, but site little to no job creation goals. Local Development Corporations (LDC) offered a total of $1.3 billion in tax breaks to 1,660 projects between 2010 and 2015, producing only 1,686 jobs, considerably lower than the 9,136 promised. Industrial Development Agencies (IDA) also fell short on their stated goals. Between 2010 and 2015, costs of IDA's rose 22 percent while the tax exemptions for the projects grew by 44 percent.
  
  The most notable tax subsidy is with Tesla's Solar City. In 2012, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the Buffalo Billion program. Solar City would receive $750 million in cash and tax incentives in exchange for building a solar panel manufacturing factory. The original agreement would have created 1460 new jobs within two years, another 1440 new jobs with suppliers and service providers, and 5000 new jobs within ten years to help to reverse Buffalo's 40 year economic decline. However, the agree- ment has been revised 10 times over the last four years. The requirement to bring in 1440 suppliers was ultimately waived. In 2016, Solar City was in dire financial shape. It was sold to Panasonic, Tesla's battery partner, who would then manufacture solar panels as a subtenant under Tesla. This newer Tesla team has surpassed its first employment target which is to create 500 jobs by April of 2019. However, the manufacturer still needs to more than double the current workforce of 600-700 to meet the second target by 2020. Tesla's solar energy deployments are down by 50%. Tesla is also no longer the nation's biggest rooftop installer and will only provide half the stated capacity of the Buffalo factory by 2018 year end. Newly added tariffs on imported solar panels have altered the cost-benefit equation of the contract.
  
  Amazon's November 2018 announcement to build two new state of the art e-commerce headquarters one in Crystal City, VA and the other in Long Island City (LIC), NY again raised concerns over proposed tax incentives.
  
  Amazon will invest $3.68 billion over 15 years. Other highlights of the agreement include Amazon's commitment to build a state of the art tech center, offer workforce development and job training as well as much needed infrastructure development. In exchange, New York will offer Amazon up to $1.7 billion in incentives on a post-performance basis if the company creates as many as 40,000 jobs. The State commitment includes $505 million in capital grants and $1.2 billion in Excelsior Jobs tax credits. Amazon will also receive $897 million in Relocation and Employment Assistance Program (REAP) and $386 million from the Industrial & Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP). This brings the total amount of public funds granted to $2.988 billion.
  
  LIC community members are concerned about the impact of Amazon's deal. Residents worry about losing their small businesses, their homes or being driven out by increased property taxes. Whatever the outcome of these recent deals, pressure continues to create oversight and accountability as a means to halt completely unnecessary giveaways to some of the world's richest companies. As New York continues to encourage economic development opportunities, these types of fiscally unsound incentive programs must be monitored.
  
  In addition to real job creation, companies should be expected to have a record of good corporate citizenship if they are going to receive public support. Currently there are no such standards. If subsidies are really going to benefit the people of New York, the businesses that receive them should be required to pay living waves, avoid criminal activity, and work with the communities in which they are located."

A3484A & S995B: Relates to the disclosure of beneficial owners of limited liability companies

• Status: Passed Assembly
• Sponsor of A3484: Gallagher
• Sponsor of S995B: Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D. WF) 47th Senate District
• Purpose: "This bill aims to end the practice of anonymous ownership of limited liability companies in New York by defining beneficial ownership, requiring the disclosure of the identities of beneficial owners upon company formation or registration, and publishing beneficial owners of limited liability companies in New York's publicly searchable business entity database."
• Justification: "Limited liability is a legal privilege conferred upon an individual by the state, and the receipt of such privilege should be conditioned on the identification of the individual benefiting from it. Permitting anonymous limited liability companies to do business in New York was a public policy mistake that deserves correction.
  
  Anonymous corporate ownership has proliferated since the 1990s and has contributed to numerous problems. Anonymous shell companies are used to bypass sanctions, avoid taxes, fund terrorist organizations and organized crime, and launder money. Anonymous LLCs leasing real property are correlated with more numerous code violations, higher rents, and more evictions compared to non-corporate owners. Drug and human traffickers use anonymous shell companies like LLCs to launder the proceeds of their criminal activities and evade detection. Deed theft, campaign finance violations, and bid rigging can be facilitated by anonymous LLCs. Anony- mous LLCs hamper routine code enforcement, burdening local governments. Meanwhile, the anonymous ownership of a significant portion of real estate in New York hampers policy-making and upends centuries of precedent by obscuring the answer to the question: who owns what?
  
  In response to exposes such as the Panama Papers and the Pandora Papers, which highlighted the massive, global nature of illicit activity fostered by anonymous shell companies like LLCs, the UK, European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and over 100 countries worldwide are creating registries of the beneficial owners of corporate and legal entities, many of them public. In 2021, the federal government passed the Corporate Transparency Act, which requires the Treasury Department to collect beneficial ownership information from corporations in a private, government database. Unfortunately, the inaccessible nature of the new federal database means that this information will serve no use for civil society or local government in New York, denying New Yorkers the many benefits that beneficial ownership transparency offers.
  
  This bill builds on previous efforts to require the disclosure of LLC members and managers involved in real estate transactions in New York. The bill adopts the same standards promulgated by the Treasury Department pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act and requires that the same information also be filed with New York's Department of State. Companies subject to the federal government's reporting requirements may submit a copy of their federal registration to New York's Department of State in order to minimize the burden of such reporting. To protect genuine privacy interests that some individuals may have, a waiver process is created, with specific protections for whistleblowers using LLCs to file false claims act lawsuits and individuals participating in an address confidentiality program."

A03686 & S06285: Relates to cemetery trust funds and the maintenance and preservation of cemetery grounds

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "The existing statute is cumbersome as it relates to expenditures of net appreciation of cemetery trust funds. The formula is so difficult for cemeteries to utilize that there have been very few applications made utilizing the existing process for expenditures. This bill would conform these cemetery expenditures to the uniform not-for-profit standard of the Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act. By providing this vital change, cemeteries will have increased tools to aid their maintenance and preservation. Review of this investment strategy will remain under the current purview of the Division of Cemeteries and the State Cemetery Board which is composed of the Secretary of State, Attorney General and Commissioner of Health or their designees."

A06635: Requires tax exempt organization to report on funds spent on judgments and settlements regarding harassment, assault or abuse allegations against its officials

• Status: In Committee

A07428: Relates to removal and prohibition of directors, trustees, officers, members or partners of certain entities; repealer

• Status: On Floor Calendar

S02667: Requires certain employees of charitable organizations to complete a course of instruction in the law and ethics of fundraising

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: In today's technology, we are still required to pay health care providers per page printed of medical records, costing from hundreds to several thousand dollars, when these records are simply copied onto a CD and sent to the patient to be printed on their own. Therefore, the fees imposed when a patient requests an electronic version of their medical records should not reflect any fee for printing them. This bill will establish a reasonable fee for electronic copies of medical records and patient information so that no qualified person shall be denied access to patient information solely because of the inability to pay." -- Hani: The justification as it appears on nysenate.gov is incorrect for this bill.

S05990: Relates to authorizing small business tax-deferred savings accounts

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Permitting small businesses to create these tax-deferred accounts will enable, incentive and protect job creation. More importantly, these accounts will not only create and preserve jobs but will ensure that these jobs are full time positions. This legislation aims to assist small businesses in a way to afford them additional financial means to grow, preserve, and improve their business. The benefit that would be enacted should this bill become law sets a positive message that we understand, support, and are willing to look at various alternatives aimed to help our small businesses."

Estate Administration

A01593: Relates to distribution of a decedent's estate

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Prohibits a distributive share from passing to a person convicted of committing or attempting to commit a sex offense."

A07662: Expands the list of transactions that constitute testamentary substitutes to include transfer-on-death securities

• Status: in Committee
• This bill would amend EPTL 5-1.1-A(b)(1).

S00748: Prohibits the acceptance of waiver of probate form by transfer agents

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Currently transfer agents of publically traded corporations, like Apple, Google and Amazon, distribute decedent assets with only a sworn affidavit and without going through formal estate proceedings that will result in documentation from the courthouse appointing a fiduciary on behalf of a New York decedent. The effect of this practice is that the surrogate court system is often completely sidestepped and family members entitled to some of the inheritance are left out of the distribution of the decedent's estate. By prohibiting this practice in New York, this bill seeks to make sure that family members and beneficiaries of a decedent's estate get what they are entitled to and are not unfairly left out of the inheritance. Consequently, this bill will generate increased revenue for the State through new filing fees that will be collected given that the surrogate court system is sidestepped in estate matters by transfer agents. Lastly, this bill empowers the family members with the ability to look in a public court record for information about a deceased family member, and allows creditors, such as Medicaid, to file claims and get reimbursed for services rendered to the decedent."

S03260: Relates to the disqualification of a surviving spouse if the marriage is annulled or voided after the death of the spouse.

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "New York State's Estates, Power and Trust Law, EPTL, permits a surviving spouse with a right of election to take a share of the decedent's estate as long as the parties were married on the date of the decedent's death. Thus, a husband or wife is a surviving spouse unless it can be established satisfactorily to the court that any grounds for disqualification within EPTL are present including, among others, final decree or judgment of divorce, annulment or other formal declaration of the nullity of a marriage at the time of the decedents death.
  
  Currently, under the New York's Domestic Relations Law a marriage in New York can be annulled post-death. However, this post-death status has no effect on the right of a spouse to take an elective share of decedent's assets because NYS EPTL 5-1.2 specifies that it is the marital status of the parties at the time of the decedent death that controls in New York.
  
  Hence, several recent court decisions have highlighted a specific type of elder abuse where a person takes unfair advantage of an individual who lacks the capacity to enter into a marriage or otherwise utilizes fraud and undue influence to secretly marry the individual for the purpose of obtaining a portion of his or her estate at the expense of the intended heirs. If they are married at the time of the decedents death, none of the grounds for disqualification under the existing EPTL statute 5-1.2 exist, and the surviving "spouse" is entitled to his or her elective share under EPTL 5-1.1 unless the court intervenes for equitable reasons or the court determines the statute ordains the protection of fraud. Yet, some courts have been reluctant to do this in light of the present unambiguous and strict statutory language.
  
  This legislation focuses on the disqualification ground concerning a final decree of annulment or other formal declaration of the nullity of a marriage which exists at the time of the decedent's death. It would make the EPTL statute compatible with the remedial actions authorized under the Domestic Relations Law, permitting the disqualification of a spouse on the annulment of the marriage before or after the death of the decedent."

Guardianship (& Related Issues)

A03772: Requires the petitioner for appointment as the guardian for an incapacitated person to identify all other persons who may be able to manage the affairs of such incapacitated person; prohibits appointment solely for the purpose of bill collection or resolving a bill collection dispute.

• Status: On Floor Calendar

A05190: Creates the short-term military service guardian; allows parent without joint custody to appoint service guardian; provides for a maximum appointment of 180 days.

• Status: In Committee

A07827: Relates to hospitalization, care coordination, and assisted outpatient treatment for persons with mental illness

Health Care Proxy

A00076: Requires pre-admission notification of policies authorizing the refusal to follow directives in health care proxies that are contrary to a hospital's operating principles.

• Status: On Floor Calendar

A00385: Relates to witnesses to a health care proxy and the crime of forgery in the second degree

• Status: In Committee
• The bill would amend Public Health Law § 2981 to generally allow for one witness for a healthcare proxy, but will require two adult witnesses where "a person who resides in a facility operated or licensed by the office of mental health or the office for people with developmental disabilities."
• If the principal is unable to sign, then the other person who is signing on behalf of the person cannot be a witness.
• The bill would add health care proxies to subdivision 1 of Penal Law § 170.10 (Forgery in the second degree).

A00771 & S01460: Relates to health care proxy information on driver's licenses; repealer

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Advance directives, such as health care proxies or living wills, are written instructions given by individuals specifying what medical care they wish to receive, or abstain from receiving, should they become unable to make such decisions in the future. These orders ensure that patients' wishes about treatment are known and followed if they cannot speak for themselves due to incapacitating illness or injury. All New Yorkers should be made aware of their ability to execute advance directives. By adding a question on the application for a driver's license or non-driver identification cards, regarding whether an individual has executed an advance directive, New York can raise awareness about advance directives. Nothing in this legislation would require an individual to complete an advance directive. Rather, it would simply ask applicants if they have completed a health care proxy or living will. All individuals in good health should consider preparing an advance directive in case of sudden accident or illness."

A01224: Relates to health care proxy information on driver's licenses

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Provides space on a driver's license for health care proxy information."

A01448 & S02777: Changes the default standard on statutory health proxy forms regarding life-sustaining treatment standards

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "This bill makes the decision-making standard for an agent under the Health Care Proxy Law similar to the standard for a surrogate under the Family Health Care Decisions Act (FHCDA). Specifically, the FHCDA provides that a surrogate must make decisions about life-sustaining treatment, including artificial nutrition and hydration, based on the patient's wishes or, if the patient's wishes are not reasonably known, based on the patient's best interests. In contrast, the 1990 Health Care Proxy Law allows the patient's designated agent to make decisions about artificial nutrition and hydration only if the decision is based on the patient's reasonably known wishes and not if the decision is based on the patient's best interests. There is little basis for this disparity in standards. Moreover, the special rule for decisions about artificial nutrition and hydration in the Health Care Proxy Law has been a source of enduring confusion and misinterpretation.
  
  This amendment would make the FHCDA standard, with its careful definition of "best interests" that now applies to decisions made by surrogates, applicable to decisions by health care agents."

A01601: Establishes a health care proxy registry within the department of health

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Establishes a health care proxy registry within the department of health to maintain the health care proxies of persons electing to submit proxies to such registry and to provide access thereto by attending health care providers and the principal of the health care proxy."

A02190 & S05100: Provides for the remote witnessing of health care proxies utilizing audio-video technology or telephone.

• Status: Passed Senate
• Purpose: "The purpose of this bill is to modernize certain aspects of completing a health care proxy by authorizing various remote witnessing procedures."

A02415: Requires nursing homes and certain facilities to provide health care proxy forms to patients at or prior to admission to such facilities; requires the facility to file such health care proxies with the department of health.

• Status: In Committee

A02641 & S04809: Authorizes patients to designate an essential visitor who may assist the patient and perform certain duties on behalf of the patient

• Status: In Committee

A06308: Provides that substituted consent by a guardian, health care proxy, or other third party shall not authorize a procedure resulting in sterilization in the absence of the informed consent of the person being sterilized.

• Status: In Committee

A07184 & S03283: Makes technical, minor and coordinating amendments regarding health care agents and proxies, decisions under the family health care decisions act, and nonhospital orders not to resuscitate

• Status: In Committee

S04319: Provides certain requirements for health care proxies and death certificates.

• Status: In Committee
• Purpose: "To require a health care proxy to be notarized, requires life ending decisions to be received from two medical doctors and requires death that is caused by the withdrawal of nutrition or hydration to be stated on death certificate."
• Justification: "A health care proxy gives authority to an individual to make health care decisions on one's behalf. A health care proxy should be notarized to ensure that the wishes of the person who is ill are carried out as intended. This bill will protect the most vulnerable and disabled from malicious intent. This legislation would require the agent of a life ending decision to get two independent written opinions from two medical doctors who are not involved in the patients care. This will ensure that the agent has the facts to make an informed decision in determining the patients care. Having two medical opinions will give the patient and his or her agent the proper medical information to ensure that all health care options are explored. In the case of death, the bill also requires that if death occurs as a result of a health care decision by an agent that is caused by the withdrawal of nutrition or hydration that this cause of death be stated on the death certificate."

S06845: Requires patient hospital admissions form to allow a patient to designate a domestic partner with the same privileges as a next-of-kin respecting visitation and the authorizing of surgery for a patient in the absence and unavailability of a next-of-kin or nearest relative where the patient has given no specific instructions and becomes unable to execute a health care proxy or make decisions about his/her health care.

• Status: In Committee
• Purpose: "To require hospitals to recognize a domestic partner as a legal relative for such purpose, if the patient indicates on admission data that such person is a domestic partner or next of kin."

Landlord & Tenant

A00066: Requires landlords to provide notice of rental history upon the signing of a vacancy lease

• Status: In Committee

A01255: Relates to tenant security deposit accounts and administrative expenses to which a person may be entitled

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Provides that a landlord depositing security deposits in an interest bearing account shall be entitled to receive as administration expenses a sum equivalent to 20 percent of the interest earned by such security money per annum, but not to exceed one percent per annum of the money so deposited."

A02134 & S02294: Requires owners and agents of multiple residences and multiple dwellings to provide names and contact information of residents to emergency personnel, where the physical safety of such residents must be accounted for by ascertaining their whereabouts.

• Status: Passed Senated & Assembly
• Justificaiton: "On August 11, 2019, a fire in a Yonkers Apartment building displaced eighty-six people displaced from their homes. The fire caused excessive damage to the five-story building and took 60 firefighters. Luckily, no one was injured by the fire but during the blaze emergency responders were unable to determine who was safely out of the building. When emergency personnel contacted the building ownership to determine if everyone was safely evacuated, it was difficult to get a list of who was living in the building and their contact.
  
  In the case of an emergency, first responders are best equipped to do their job and prevent the loss of life when they are fully informed. When triaging an emergency preventing the loss of life or injury is critical but when the information required to do so is withheld this task in even more difficult.
  
  This bill seeks to help preserve the life and health of residents of multiple dwelling/residence building by enabling emergency personnel to have access to the information they need."

A02729 & S02134: Requires landlords to mitigate damages when commercial tenants vacate premises in violation of the terms of the lease

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "New York State has restored the duty of landlords to mitigate damages when a tenant vacates before the end of a lease term for residential units. This public policy decision is based on the long-standing principle of the duty of a plaintiff to minimize damages. This sound principle, now applied to residential units, is also good public policy to protect commercial tenants from property owners who make no effort to re-rent a vacant property or minimize damages. Currently, it is common for commercial leases to include such a provision. This legislation would extend the state policy to commercial landlords and tenants on a uniform basis."

A02848: Provides an asbestos remediation tax credit

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Provides an asbestos remediation tax credit in Erie county; allows for a fifty percent credit of all eligible costs which are incurred as a result of asbestos remediation, not to exceed $1,000,000."

A04711 & S06852 Requires landlord to grant access to engineer or architect hired by tenants to inspect major capital improvements in certain multiple dwellings

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "In order to receive a major capital improvement rent increase, a landlord must file a report with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) which sends a copy of that report to the tenants of the building. The DHCR then gives the tenants an opportunity to verify the information in the report, and, if the tenants disagree with the landlord's claims, to object to the proposed rent increase. In order for tenants to verify what is stated in the landlord's report, they must be able to hire experts to inspect the improvements described in the report. Presently, landlords can deny access to engineers or architects hired by the tenants. This legislation requires landlords to allow access to engineers or architects hired by the tenants to inspect building improvements, and enables tenants to use reports prepared by their experts to object to the proposed rent increase."

Notaries

A00329 & S05688: Requires notaries public and commissioners of deeds to complete and retain certain documents relating to the transfer of residential real property

• Status: On Floor Calendar
• Current Version: A00329B
• Justification: "Huge spikes in real estate values and lax standards for property transfers have left many homeowners vulnerable to deceptive practices by individuals and entities seeking to defraud homeowners out of their title to the home to make a profit. The two most common mechanisms of deed theft are through forged deeds and fraudulently transferred deeds. In the instances of a forged deed, the forger signs the document conveying real property as both the seller and buyer without any right to it.
  
  This type of theft typically affects properties in which ownership has recently passed through inheritance and these deed scammers quickly file the forged deed, which legitimizes their title, and enables them to take possession of the premises. In the case of fraudulently transferred deeds, homeowners sign over their deeds, either knowingly or unknowingly, under the false pretenses proffered by scammers. These individuals target homes in or nearing foreclosure by approaching the vulnerable homeowners with promises of refinancing, preventing foreclosure or some other financial relief, and some even manipulate the homeowners to do a short sale, by which they promise to pay homeowners a sum of money to satisfy the outstanding mortgage in exchange for short term title to the property which they in turn promise to give back after the loan is repaid. Unwitting homeowners are often left without a home and still owing their mortgages.
  
  his bill seeks to prevent both scenarios by requiring the notary who is present at the signing of the document of conveyance to fill out and file a notarial record. This record will indicate among other things the parties to the conveyance, the documents of identification that are presented to the notary, and the relationship the grantee and grantor have to one another. The rationale is that the creation of such a document will encourage the notary to be vigilant in identifying who the grantor and grantee are and the legitimacy of the transaction. Further more, the filing of the record will assist in the subsequent investigation and prosecution of fraudulent deed transfers by identifying any pattern of fraudulent actors."

A01896 & S06967: Provides for the remote conduct of certain practice

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "The public health emergency arising from COVID-19 has revealed a number of small chokepoints in business practices that can be cleared by adopting more modern technology. The executive has issued a number of executive orders under the emergency to remove such barriers. This legislation codifies such changes."

A03225 & S02271: Clarifies requirements for acknowledgments, proofs, oaths and affirmations without the state

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Every year, consumers and businesses are increasingly transacting and traveling across state lines. Often times, these instances include or require critical documents be executed and notarized. Sometimes these documents are notarized by notaries from other states.
  
  New York currently requires that documents notarized from out of state by persons authorized to legally notarize within their respective states - already subject to their respective criminal, civil, and disciplinary laws - additionally have a separate form called a 'certificate of conformity' completed in New York which states that the out-of-state notary complied with the notarization laws of their state.
  
  The very act of notarizing a document within another state already entails a legal obligation that the notary complied with their states' laws. However, New York is the only state that requires the additional, duplicative step of completing a certificate of conformity before validly notarized documents from out of state are recognized.
  
  This legislation would align our state with the rest of the country by removing the requirement for an additional step before valid out-of-state notarizations are recognized in New York, reducing burden on consumers and businesses and increasing the free flow of transactions. No other requirements for documents to be valid for use in New York are affected."

A04200: Removes the requirement of a sworn statement administered by a notary public for purposes of petitions; requires the notary public to inquire whether the person is the same listed on the address.

• Status: In Committee

A04124 & S05014: Relates to requiring all banks and credit unions to have a notary public available during business hours

• Status: In Committee
• Justifiction: "With hundreds of banks and credit unions throughout New York State, this act will require a notary of public on premises during regular business hours for customers."

A05772 & S05162: An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to an affirmation by any person, wherever made, in a civil action

• Status: 10/25/2023 Signed chap.559
• Purpose: "To allow any person to submit an affirmation under penalty of perjury in lieu of an affidavit"
• Summary of Provisions: "Section 1 amends CPLR 2106 to expand the ability to submit an affirmation in lieu of an affidavit from certain health care practitioners to any person.
  
  Section 2 provides the effective date."
• Justification: "The requirement that litigants and other court participants have documents notarized is unduly burdensome, and federal law removed such requirements for federal courts decades ago. Attorneys, physicians, osteopaths and dentists, as well as any person outside the jurisdiction of the United States, are already exempt from the New York requirement to submit affidavits and may submit affirmations instead.
  
  This bill will align New York with the over 20 states that follow federal practice. It will relieve unnecessary burdens on litigants, non-party witnesses, county clerks, and courts."
• Effective date: "This shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date upon which it shall have become a law and shall apply to all actions commenced on or after such effective date and all actions pending on such effective date."

A06065 & S02997 An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to changing reference from physician, osteopath or dentist to health care practitioner

• Status: 10/25/2023 Signed chap.585
• Summary of Specific Provisions: "Section one of the bill amends rule 2106 of the civil practice law and rules to extend to all licensed health care practitioners to the right of affirmation of affidavits.
  
  Section two of the bill provides the effective date."
• Justification: CPLR 2106 was intended to ease the burdens of attorneys who, as a prerequisite to the submission of their own sworn written statement in an action, were required under prior law to find a notary public to administer an oath. The drafters of the CPLR determined that the attorney's professional obligations and the possibility of prosecution for making a false statement provided sufficient safeguards to dispense with the need for an appearance by the attorney before a notary public. Thus, the attorney is authorized by CPLR 2106 to simply sign his or her own statement and affirm its truth subject to the penalties of perjury. Such affirmation has the same effect as an affidavit sworn to before a notary public.
  
  Similar considerations of convenience led to an amendment of the statute in 1973 to extend the same right of affirmation to physicians, osteopaths and dentists, whose affidavits are also frequently required in civil litigation. It is appropriate that this right be extended to other licensed health care practitioners.

A06207: Establishes a notarial recordkeeping and reporting exemption for acts relating to the designation and nomination of candidates

• Status: Introduced

A07241: Relates to timing recordkeeping and reporting duties of public notaries

• Status: In Committee

A07755 & S07561: Relates to procedures for appointment and reappointment of notaries public

• Status: Passed Assembly
• Justification: "There are approximately a quarter of a million commissioned notaries public in the state of New York, each of which is commissioned for a four-year term. The Secretary of State and county clerks each have duties and responsibilities relating to commissioning notaries public. Each have recordkeeping and record sharing responsibilities, and current law provides for a part-state, part-local framework by which notaries must obtain their commissions (i.e., license). Under this framework, persons seeking a new notary commission (new license) must apply to the Department of State (DOS) and if approved, receive their license by DOS, whereas a notary seeking to renew their commission must apply to their county clerk and, if approved, receive their renewal license by such county clerk. The law relating to appointment of notaries public also requires the Secretary of State to sign off on reappointments regarding applicants with a criminal conviction and authorizes the Secretary of State to weigh in on applicants regarding good moral character issues but doesn't prescribe how those things happen. The resulting lack of statutory clarity has resulted in a process by which the county clerk receives applications for individuals seeking reappointment, but instead of issuing a commission after determining completeness and checking with the Secretary of State on any criminal convictions or good moral character issues, the county clerk forwards by mail the completed application for reappointment to the Secretary of State for processing and issuance of a reappointment (i.e., renewal) commission. The result of this cumbersome process has been delays in the issuance of renewals that disenfranchises the end user (the notary) and the businesses they serve.
  
  With the recent enactment of the new law providing for electronic notary services in the state of New York, the Secretary of State launched a new application and records management system that processes not only electronic notary registrations, but new notary applications for traditional notary commissions. The system is capable of processing renewal applications as well, and a change in law directing renewals to the Secretary of State will eliminate the chronic renewal backlog associated with the antiquated, paper and mail-based process and deliver a modem online application with the efficiency that the public has become accustomed to receiving with many other government services."

S00218: Relates to duties of notaries with respect to instruments conveying residential real property

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "The current law does not adequately protect homeowners from deed theft. The notary public is often the last line of defense before a homeowner signs a deed. However, some fraudulent notaries will misrepresent to the homeowner what in fact they are signing, which results in an unintentional conveyance of real property. This bill amends the current law to ensure homeowners understand their actions prior to conveying their property and that all steps in this process are thoroughly documented. Both the journal requirements and the colloquy form would reinforce to the signer the seriousness of such a transaction, which will hopefully prompt them to ask the necessary questions before taking any action. This type of thorough record keeping would also assist law enforcement in rooting out bad industry actors."

S00560: Authorizes oaths to be remotely administered by notaries public to witnesses in legal proceedings

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Stenographers are notaries because they are required to administer the oath to witnessed during federal and state depositions, and other various proceedings. The current pandemic has caused a great deal of concern about the swearing in of witnesses remotely and its legality in situations that are not covered by CPLR 3113(d) prior to Executive Order 202.7, which provided a framework for notarial acts. Passing this into law would cover and protect stenographic notaries and the legal industry to be more proactive and address safety concerns that in person oaths during a pandemic could cause. Since the pandemic depositions and hearings have been handled through remote platforms. By having permanent language for remote administration of an oath more hearings can be covered in a day, travel costs are reduced, and it allows for expedience of the litigation process."

S04166: Relates to increasing fees certain notaries public shall be entitled to

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Public notaries are licensed professionals registered with the New York State Department of State (DOS). Notaries provide an important service by affirming, acknowledging and certifying legal documents. In 1991, the State authorized a $2.00 notary fee. Since that time, the fees that notaries themselves are responsible for have increased, including a $60 initial application fee, a $60 renewal fee which are required every four years, a $15 written examination fee, a $10 change of name or address fee, and a $10 duplicate license fee. The fee notaries can charge have remained the same for over twenty five years, yet the fees notaries have been charged have continually increased over that same period. Many other States already allow for higher fees such as Hawaii, the District of Columbia and California where fees range from $5 to $15."

Orders Not to Resuscitate

A04332 & S02930: Relates to orders not to resuscitate; repealer

• Status: Passed Senate

S07507: Relates to orders not to resuscitate for and decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment and hospice care; repealer

• Status: In Committee
• Purpose: "The purpose of the bill is to align the laws applicable to orders not to resuscitate (DNR orders) and other medical orders for life-sustaining treatment (MOLSTs) for all inpatients receiving care in Department of Health (DOH) and Office of Mental Health (OMB) operated or licensed hospitals. Additionally, the bill clarifies the applicable laws for non-hospital DNR orders."
• Justification: "These changes are necessary to address unnecessary complications in the law, provide much needed clarification to hospitals, and to implement the recommendations of the New York Task Force on Life and Law Special Advisory Committee report from 2016, available at:
  
  https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/task_force/reports_publications/docs/2016-06_recommendations_for_amending_fhcda.pdf
  
  Current statutes include a provision for the execution of DNR orders in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest for OMH inpatients, including individuals transferred from OMH facilities to DOH facilities. However, there is currently no clearly applicable provision of law for the execution for the DNIs and MOLSTs for patients in or transferred from OMH facilities to DOH facilities who do not have a properly empowered guardian or health care proxy. Additionally, for OMH hospital patients for whom a DNI or MOLST has been executed while the patient was transferred to a DOH facility, there is no formal, legal mechanism for the transfer and continued applicability of these orders when the patient returns to the OMH facility.
  
  These changes will also ensure that individuals in hospital settings are treated equally, regardless of their health status and with appropriate dignity when they are terminally ill and where lifesaving or life-sustaining treatments would pose an extraordinary burden.
  
  For example, under the current legal framework, a common fact pattern emerges: A patient of a hospital operated or licensed by OMB is transferred to a DOH licensed hospital for medical treatment and the hospital, either in conjunction with an appropriate surrogate or on their own accord pursuant to the FHCDA, determines that it is appropriate to execute a MOLST if the patient is terminally ill and the treatment would be an extraordinary burden. The MOLST includes orders not to resuscitate or intubate the patient and to provide comfort care. 'The patient is stabilized and returned to the OMH hospital with the MOLST. Upon their return to the OMH hospital, applicable law (Article 29-B of the public health law) dictates that the attending practitioner must examine the patient and issue an order continuing or canceling the order. However, Article 29-B, unlike the FHCDA, only applies to cardiopulmonary resuscitation decisions, and not to intubation or other comfort care measures and the FHCDA does not provide for the transferability of the entire order to the facility. As a result, only the DNR order may issue. While the OMH hospital is providing comfort care measures to the terminal ill patient, if the patient required intubation, the OMH hospital is required to intubate or summon emergency services personnel to intubate and transport the patient back to the DOH hospital. This cycle may occur multiple times before the patient can be transferred to hospice or passes away, and these individuals are not afforded timely appropriate treatment solely on the basis of being a patient in an OMH hospital."

Organ Donations

S779: Prevents discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities in regards to organ donations.

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "The American with Disabilities Act expressly prohibits discrimination against individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities. However, discrimination still exists when an individual with a disability is facing the need for organ donation. These individuals with disabilities lives are no less worthy for life saving organ donation than an individual without a disability. This legislation seeks to ensure that our laws protect these individuals. This legislation does not elevate these individuals with a disability but ensures that they are viewed as equals when organ donation is being considered. Recently Oregon, California, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts have passed laws to this effect."

Power of Attorney

A00182 & S00758: Authorizes the use of an electronic signature by a person granted a power of attorney with respect to tax documents submitted

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Currently, tax professionals which represent taxpayers before the NYS Department of Financial Services or the NYC Department of Finance may only hand-sign documents and agreements on their client's behalf. This bill would allow accountants to utilize their electronic signature as well.
  
  This change reflects the new dynamic of remote work due to the effects of Covid and new work-from-home protocols. Remote work and working from home has become the norm for tax professionals. This would allow them to more expeditiously resolve tax matters for their clients."

A01753 & S03542: Permits the electronic execution of a power of attorney for the purposes of transferring a salvage certificate of title and the execution of an odometer disclosure statement.

• Status: Passed Senate
• Justification: "Vehicles covered by insurance are sometimes damaged to the point of being declared a total loss as occurs when an insured is involved in a devastating accident or in situations where weather-related storms strike New York. In those instances, the customer and insurer agree on a settlement value for the damaged vehicle and the insurer, pending receipt of title, delivers payment to the customer for the value of their vehicle. Unfortunately, given the current statutory constraints in New York under the General Obligations law, it takes on average 9-11 days for the customer to receive their settlement payment. The delay in payments and hardship on the insureds and their family was glaring when Hurricanes Sandy and Irene hit New York. If this bill were enacted into law, the use of an electronic signature for a power of attorney and odometer damage and disclosure statement would be permitted, and the average time for a customer to receive payment would be greatly reduced; in most cases between 24 to 48 hours. There are 17 other states that use this or some other form of electronic signatures to expedite payments to customers when a vehicle is declared a total loss."
• Active Versions: A01753A & S3542A

A07708: Relates to requiring principals to notify co-trustees and co-beneficiaries of the signing of a power of attorney

• Status: In Committee

S03503: Relates to requiring principals to notify co-trustees and co-beneficiaries of the signing of a power of attorney

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "This bill will protect trustees and/or beneficiaries in particular financial matters where said trustee/beneficiary is a co-trustee and/or co-beneficiary. In instances where you share an account/trust/etc. with another trustee and/or beneficiary, the other trustee/beneficiary could create a power of attorney with a non-party. Without any notice, that non-party could then perhaps raid the trust or financial agreement, thus taking all funds. This bill would require notice to all trustees and/or beneficiaries when one member of the financial agreement enters into a power of attorney. If the principal cannot identify or contact a co-befeficiary after good faith efforts were made, the principal must attest to the efforts made to identify and/or contact co-beneficiaries."
• Hani's thoughts: This bill is unworkable and ill-informed. Fiduciaries can't delegate non-ministerial duties using a general power of appointment. Beneficiaries can't raid trust accounts.

Power of Withdrawal

A00935: Clarifies and declares as the existing law of the state of New York the provisions of rules relating to the lapse of a power of withdrawal over the income of a trust

• Status: In Committee

Real Estate

A01270: Relates to willful neglect of real property prevention

• Status: In Committee

A01967 & S5400: Requires disclosure of information concerning flood insurance on residential leases; repealer

• Status: Signed into law (Chap. 484) on 9/22/2023
• Summary: "Sections 1 and 2 of the bill amend the Real Property Law to add new questions relating to a property's flood history and flood insurance requirements to the Property Condition Disclosure Statement set forth by such section. Property owners would have to disclose whether the property is located in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain according to FEMA's flood insurance rate maps, whether the property is subject to requirements under federal law to obtain and maintain flood insurance, and the property's flood insurance history.
  
  Section 3 of the bill amends Section 465 of the Real Property Law to strike subdivision 1, which currently provides that in the event that a seller fails to provide the Property Condition Disclosure Statement to a buyer prior to a sale, the buyer receives a $500 credit towards the sale of the property. It also adds the provisions of Section 467 of the Real. Property Law, which is repealed by the bill, to Section 465 of the Real Property Law.
  
  Section 4 of the bill repeals Section 467 of the Real Property Law.
  
  Section 5 of the bill provides the effective date."
• Justification: "New York's current flood risk disclosure laws require sellers of residential real property to provide buyers with a property condition disclosure statement prior to the buyer signing a contract of sale. Among other things, the statement requires the seller to disclose whether a property is located in a 'designated floodplain,' and whether there are any flooding, drainage, or grading problems that have resulted in standing water on the property.
  
  The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) currently gives New York's flood risk disclosure law a failing grade, thanks in large part to the fact that if a seller fails to provide the disclosure statement to the buyer, the only penalty for doing so is that the seller has to provide the buyer a $500 credit towards the purchase price of the property. This negligible penalty leads many sellers to treat the requirement to provide the disclosure statement as optional, and the $500 credit as merely a cost of doing business. New York is unique in this regard, as no other state has this opt-out credit option in law. The questions relating to flood history and risk on New York's disclosure statement are also in need of an update to conform with more comprehensive laws passed in states such as Texas and Louisiana which provide buyers with more specific information about the nature of the property's flood risk and their obligation under federal law to obtain flood insurance for the property.
  
  New Yorkers deserve to be informed about the condition of residential property they purchase and to be aware of any flood risks they might face when buying or renting their homes, especially in an era where so-called "100-year floods" are happening much more frequently due to climate change.
  
  This bill would update New York's disclosure statement to arm homebuyers with more information and repeal the $500 credit, requiring sellers to either provide the disclosure statement or risk being held liable for failure to do so."
• Prior Legislative History: "A.7876/S.5472 of 2021-22 - the provisions of this legislation pertaining to residential leases were included in and passed as A.7876-A/S.5472 and signed into law by the Governor"
• Effective Date: "This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law"

A02403 & S01224: Excludes real property conveyances from the written notice requirement

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "In 2020, the Real Property Law was amended requiring a County Clerk or City Registrar notify property owners when a conveyance of their property is recorded. Under current law, this written notice requirement applies to counties when they convey property that they received as a result of a tax foreclosure. Counties that take title to property because of foreclosure do so with the intention of selling it to a new owner or transferring it back to a redeeming owner. The county works closely with the clerk's office and, in some cases, the county pays the mailing fee for the notice. Counties hold title to these properties for a short amount of time and work with the homeowner to prevent the type of fraud that the notice requirement was designed to protect against.
  
  This amendment would exempt the county from the written notice requirement, and therefore the fee, because the county does not require notice of the process that it initiated and is carrying out."

A02914: Increases the sales price threshold for real property conveyances that will trigger additional sales tax

• Status: In Committee

A04702: Relates to real property tax lien transfers; repealer

• Status: In Committee
• Summary: "Establishes provisions for real property tax lien transfers to assist homeowners facing foreclosure based on unpaid taxes; repeals existing provisions relating to acceptance of taxes from certain loan corporations."

A06656 & S06577: Relates to the theft of real property and protecting victims of real property theft

• Status: Signed into law (Chap. 630) on 11/14/2023
• Summary: "Relates to the theft of real property; provides certain protections for victims of real property theft; authorizes a stay of foreclosure proceedings pending an investigation into theft or fraud."
• Purposes: "The purpose of this bill is to increase protections against real property theft, commonly known as deed theft, by providing homeowners and prosecutors tools to assist in restoring title to the rightful homeowners, extending certain consumer protections to homeowners in distress, and preventing deed theft scammers from utilizing the courts and the law to their advantage in carrying out the fraud."
• Justification: "Real property theft, often referred to as deed theft, is a surprisingly frequent occurrence that is most common in gentrifying neighborhoods. Deed theft perpetrators often target minority homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods whose property values have increased significantly, and tend to single out those who are more likely to be susceptible to fraudulent schemes, especially preying on seniors and those facing financial hardship. Real property thieves target these individuals using a variety of schemes to deprive them of their most valuable asset, including the use of fraudulent signatures or making false promises of quick money to deceive homeowners into signing away their ownership.
  
  The current legal landscape makes it too easy for scammers to victimize homeowners and too difficult for homeowners and prosecutors alike to achieve justice after a real property theft has been perpetrated. Victimized homeowners must navigate a series of complex legal steps, often with limited financial resources, to keep or restore possession of their homes, sometimes even facing eviction from their own homes after being robbed of ownership. In many cases, prosecutors do not learn of the crime until many years after it occurred, creating significant challenges to conduct an investigation before the termination of the statute of limitations. Making these circumstances worse, scammers are currently able to use tactics to quickly extract money from the property and prevent the homeowner from regaining title by using the equity of the property to secure bank loans, demanding rent from any existing tenants, and eventually selling the property to an unsuspecting buyer, creating a legal impediment to the homeowner reacquiring the property.
  
  On October 27th, 2022, The Senate Standing Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development held a public hearing to examine the practice of deed theft in New York. The committee received first hand testimony from impacted individuals, government entities tasked with deed theft enforcement, and community and legal service organizations regarding the practice of deed theft, its enforcement across the state, and legislative solutions to protect vulnerable homeowners. The legislative proposals included in this bill and a related program bill, S6569, introduced by Senator Myrie, aim to address many of the shortcomings in the law that allow deed theft to occur and prevent these cases from being resolved in a just manner.
  
  These solutions are founded on the testimony delivered at the Senate's hearing and in other settings by people adversely affected by deed theft and their attorneys, as well as public officials and agencies, housing and community development organizations, legal services organizations, and the Office of the Attorney General, which has drawn upon the collective experiences of the members of its Deed Theft Task Force and has contributed substantially to the development of this proposed legislation."
• Effective Date: "This bill shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law."

A06843 & S01684: Relates to the information to be included in vacancy rate studies

• Status: Passed Assembly
• Justification: "New York State is facing an unprecedented houskg crisis - especially among the renting population. In 2019, the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act was passed that, among other things, allowed for municipalities to opt into tenant protection regulations if their municipality had a vacancy rate less than 5%. This vacancy rate was to be determined by the completion of a survey by property owners within a given municipality.
  
  Since the law was enacted, there have been attempts by several municipalities across the state to obtain vacancy rate surveys, but they have been stymied by property owners who choose to not complete the surveys or deliberately manipulate data for the date or month of the survey. Most recently, both the City of Kingston in Ulster County and the City of Rochester attempted surveys, but many landlords ignored requests or shared inaccurate information leading to results that did reflect true vacancy rates. This legislation would require property owners with buildings having six or more units to complete and submit a vacancy rate survey when asked by a municipality or designee of the municipality to ensure that cities who choose to undergo this opportunity are able to get accurate information. Failure to submit can result in the loss of a permit of occupancy or a fine by the municipality and the property will be deemed to have a zero vacancy rate."

A06933 & S06574: Establishes the New York state first home savings program to authorize first time home buyers to establish savings accounts to buy their first home

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Buying a home for the first time can leave you with serious sticker shock, and many New Yorkers can never imagine the reaching the dream of home ownership. The New York State First Home Savings Program will allow persons who have not had an ownership interest in a principal residence to establish an account for the purchase of their first home, using a deduction against their personal income taxes of up to five thousand dollars for individuals and ten thousand dollars for married couples."

S00216: Repeals section 421-a of the real property tax law relating to the affordable New York housing program

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "The current law does not adequately protect homeowners from deed theft. The notary public is often the last line of defense before a homeowner signs a deed. However, some fraudulent notaries will misrepresent to the homeowner what in fact they are signing, which results in an unintentional conveyance of real property. This bill amends the current law to ensure homeowners understand their actions prior to conveying their property and that all steps in this process are thoroughly documented. Both the journal requirements and the colloquy form would reinforce to the signer the seriousness of such a transaction, which will hopefully prompt them to ask the necessary questions before taking any action. This type of thorough record keeping would also assist law enforcement in rooting out bad industry actors." -- Hani: The justification as it appears on nysenate.gov is incorrect for this bill.

S04684: Requires that notice of increase in mortgage escrow account be given in advance

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Usually a home mortgage transaction includes a provision for escrow that the borrower is required to pay every month. At the time of closing, the lender may require the borrower to deposit several months of payment covering interest, principal, PMI, taxes, etc. to this escrow account.
  
  Most borrowers roll all monthly payments including taxes, mortgage, insurance, etc into one payment to avoid several bills each month. Ideally, this escrow system flows seamlessly with no problems. Unfortunately lenders make mistakes, miscalculations, tax increases beyond control, insurance increases and factors can make the escrow system a nightmare for many homeowners. Homeowners have often complained of receiving an increase in their escrow with no prior notice to be paid immediately.Currently, a mortgagor can raise escrow payments by any amount and not give any notice. This bill would allow a mortgagee to prepare for the increase with at least 10-day notice that payment is due."

S06415: Relates to the establishment of an escrow account in any court which holds a special proceeding to recover real property

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "Due to the backlog of court cases relative to landlord tenant disputes and the limitation of resources for HCR, this bill would ensure that any tenant who is serious about getting somewhere with a complaint can show in good faith their commitment to the property by making escrow payments to the court in order for the court to speed up the decision with which a building owner will have to make necessary adjustments to the property to better serve their tenants."

S06569: Relates to the theft of real property

• Status: Passed Senate on 6/8/2023; in Assembly Committee
• Current Version: S06569A
• Purpose: "The purpose of this bill is to provide homeowners victimized by deed theft with appropriate tools to fight evictions and recover property in certain civil proceedings, and to makes other changes that strengthen the ability of law enforcement officials to investigate, prosecute, and take other remedial action against instances of deed theft."
• Justification: "Deed theft schemes rob families and communities of generational wealth. Deed theft primarily occurs through forgery, where thieves falsify a homeowner's signature without their knowledge, or through fraud, where fraudsters deceive a homeowner into signing away title without realizing what they have done. Deed thieves target mainly minority homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods with homes that have significantly appreciated in value over the years, and that face some type of financial hardship, like foreclosure, or tax or water liens.
  
  The Office of the Attorney General (OAG), as chair of the Deed Theft Task Force, regularly works with district attorneys' offices across the state, local government, and legal services organizations to coordinate our response to deed theft, discuss current trends in detecting, investigating and prosecuting deed theft, share research and analytics, and exchange ideas on how to prosecute these complex crimes more effectively. Based on the discussions of the Task Force and its own use of both criminal and civil law to combat deed theft, the OAG is recommending to the Legislature the proposed amendments in this bill to aid its work, those of other law enforcement partners, and to make it easier for homeowners and civil practitioners to fend off attempted deed thefts and to restore title to their property. Often victims report deed theft too late because they learn of the crime years later and prosecutors have no recourse but to close the matter because the statute of limitations have run out."

Retirement

A00374 & S02097: Establishes a retirement benefit review panel

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "James G. Lynch worked for the Department of Transportation for twenty-five years when he began the process to retire. He requested the paperwork to start the process, but fell ill before he could submit the forms. What was believed to be pneumonia, turned out to be lung cancer, and Mr. Lynch passed away on June 13, 2016- three days after signing his retirement paperwork in the presence of a notary.
  
  His wife, Judy Lynch, has been working tirelessly to resolve the retirement settlement. The paperwork that was signed turned out to be preliminary, and the actual retirement papers had never been given to Mr. Lynch, given he could not be granted a retirement date posthumously. This is just one narrative; yearly the legislation is asked to pass personalized bills for those who have issues pertaining to retirement. This process is often long and often ineffective. Creating a retirement board gives those like Mrs. Lynch an opportunity to plead their case to someone skillful in the retirement system."

Signatures

A02643: Allows signatures secured through blockchain technology to be considered an electronic signature

• Status: In Committee

Taxes

A0599 & S03256: Directs the department of taxation and finance to create and implement an online program which will enable New York state taxpayers to electronically file income tax returns free of charge

• Status: In Committee
• Justification: "This legislation shall direct the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance to create an online program for all New York State taxpayers to prepare and file their federal and state income tax returns for free. Currently, there are a number of different for-profit companies offering so-called "Free File," but they often include hidden fees, and only taxpayers within certain income ranges are eligible. Many years into the digital age, our government is entirely capable of offering free online tax preparation and electronic filing without forcing the taxpayer to be duped into using possibly dubious private online tax preparation services.
  
  It is a solid and fundamental principal that taxes are what we pay for civilized society, and most New Yorkers are proud to help pay for essential government programs like public education and food safety regulation. Yet there is no justification for the fees charged by for-profit tax prep and e-filing companies, which serve as obsolete intermediaries in the digital age. Countless government services can be easily accessed on government websites-from registering to vote to applying for public benefits to making complaints about potholes-and there is no reason that filing tax returns should be any different. We don't force people making more than $57,000 to pay a private company for help registering with the Selective Service System, and the State of New York should not allow it for the filing of taxes either. Government should be embracing technology, not using it as a way to direct people to the services of for-profit companies."

Trusts

A01726: Relates to providing a presumption that credit shelter bequests be construed to set aside the maximum amount that may be shielded from both federal state estate taxes

• Status: In Committee

S07475: Relates to the computation and allocation of the commissions of trustees of charitable trusts; repealer

• Status: In Committee
• Title: "An act to amend the surrogate's court procedure act, in relation to the computation and allocation of the commissions of trustees of charitable trusts; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto"
• Justification: "This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of the Acting Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of her Surrogate's Court Advisory Committee.
  
  This measure would amend sections 2308, 2309 and 2312 of the SCPA to provide that an individual trustee of a wholly charitable trust would receive commissions at the same rates as an individual trustee of a non-charitable trust, with a reduced rate of 80% of the rates for a non-charitable trust with a principal value of up to $20,000,000, and a reduced rate of 50% on the principal value in excess of $20,000,000, and to make other clarifications to existing law affecting wholly charitable trusts and split interest trusts as described herein.
  
  There is a difference under current law in the manner in which trustees of wholly charitable trusts and trustees of non-charitable trusts are compensated. Under such law (in the SCPA, section 2309(5) and others), a trustee of a wholly charitable trust is entitled to 6% of the annual income collected as compensation, while a trustee of a non-charitable trust is entitled to compensation at the rate of $10.50 per $1,000 (or major fraction thereof) on the first $400,000 of principal, $4.50 per $1,000 (or major fraction thereof) on the next $600,000 of principal and $3.00 per $1,000 (or major fraction thereof) on all additional principal. Therefore, if a non-charitable trust has $1,000,000 of assets, the trustee's annual commissions would amount to $6,900, regardless of how much income was collected during the year. Meanwhile, if a wholly charitable trust has $1,000,000 of assets that generates $1,000 of income throughout the year, then the trustee will be entitled to only $600 for his or her annual commissions.
  
  Such a discrepancy in compensation is unwarranted considering that the duties of the trustee of a wholly charitable trust and those of the trustee of a non-charitable trust are comparable. A trustee of a private trust must devote time and effort in dealing with beneficiaries and analyzing their financial needs and responsibilities. Similarly, a trustee of a wholly charitable trust must devote comparable time and energy analyzing grant requests and exercising due diligence with respect to charitable grantees. In either case, the trustee has traditional fiduciary responsibility for administering the trust faithfully and competently.
  
  The private trustee is accountable to the beneficiaries while the charitable trustee is accountable to not only the charities but also the Internal Revenue Service and the Charities Bureau of the New York Attorney General 's Office.
  
  The existing compensation structure is also at odds with modern trust administration. Under the total return concept embodied in the prudent investor rule, the existing compensation structure for a trustee of a wholly charitable trust creates a potential conflict of interest. Although investments with a significant capital gain component may be the most appropriate trust investment under the prudent investor rule, a trustee of a wholly charitable trust has personal incentive to maximize the income component of the investment return. An incentive to maximize income seems particularly inappropriate because most trusts do not base charitable distributions on trust incomes (see the following paragraph). Furthermore, if a trustee of a wholly charitable trust faithfully invests using prudent investor principles as required by applicable law, his or her trustee commissions will in most cases be substantially less than commissions payable to a trustee of a non-charitable trust of similar value (see above).
  
  There also is a difference in the manner in which trustee commissions are allocated against income and principal: commissions of a trustee of a wholly charitable trust are allocated entirely to income, while commissions of a trustee of a private trust are payable one-third from income and two-thirds from principal. Allocation of commissions of a trustee of a wholly charitable trust all to income has inadvertent consequences. By requiring the trustee of a charitable trust to take commissions from income, the income available for distribution to charitable beneficiaries of certain pre-1969 wholly charitable trusts is substantially reduced (pre-1969 wholly charitable trusts generally provide for public charities to receive the net income of a trust - the proposed change will increase the amounts payable to charities from those trusts).
  
  This measure addresses the need to treat trustees of private trusts and charitable trusts uniformly and to eliminate the disparate treatment of trustees of wholly charitable trusts."

Wills

A07702: Enacts provisions for the execution of electronic wills including attestation, notarization, and revocation.

• Status: In Committee

A03536 & S02718: Eliminates certain will filing fees

• Status: In Committee
• Summary of Provisions: "Section 1 removes the $45.00 will filing fee in surrogate's court."
• Justification: "New York has the largest concentration of attorneys in the United States, with 179,600 registered attorneys, and 155,369 of those attorneys have addresses in the state. However, despite having 17% of the population and 80% of the land space in the state, there are only 6,176 attorneys serving in the large swaths of rural New York, according to attorney-registration data. In reality, the number of rural attorneys that actually offer legal services to individual members of the public is much smaller than that statistic indicates, since a sizable proportion of these attorneys do not offer legal services to the general public, such as district attorneys and members of the judiciary. This is corroborated by data from rural county bars.
  
  One of the main factors that makes practice in rural New York difficult is that many clients are indigent, meaning they cannot afford standard hourly rates of most attorneys. As a result of the financial hardships many rural New York residents face, they have increasingly turned away from standard estate planning. This has become problematic, especially as rural New Yorkers are getting older, requiring greater resources for the courts to process intestacies.
  
  By removing the barrier of a filing fee, solo practitioners who handle large numbers of will filings for their clients will be able to keep their rates down, and will benefit estates by encouraging the best practice of filing wills. Due to the financial hardships faced by many rural New Yorkers, and the amount of pro bono or low bono work that many rural attorneys do, the filing fee is an unnecessary barrier and is cost-prohibitive to many New Yorkers."

Wrongful Death Action

A06698 & S06636: Provides for the types of damaages that may be awarded to the persons for whose benefit an action for wrongful death is brought

• Status: Passed Senate & Assembly
• Justification: "New York Families who suffer the loss of a loved one must endure a second blow, when they discover the state's civil justice system is unable to compensate them for their emotional loss. New York's wrongful death statute is over 175 years old, and it is unfortunately out of step with nearly every other state because the New York's laws prohibit grief-stricken families from recovering damages for their emotional suffering from the death of their loved one.
  
  The current law, which awards compensation for pecuniary loss only, impacts most harshly on children, seniors, women and people of color; people who often have no income or significantly less income, or have been traditionally undervalued in our society. For many years, the courts have struggled to overcome the current law's narrow and inhumane language, which measures the worth of loved family members solely by their value as wage earners.
  
  The law, in essence, says that the attributes of our family members that we most value--emotional support, love, companionship, advice and guidance--count for nothing.
  
  Another consequence of New York's outdated law is that it fails to recognize the many shapes families take. Any justice permitted by the current statute is limited to distributees, or the people who would inherit a decedent's estate. The current law doesn't recognize loss of step-family, people being raised by or raising other family members, or even nuclear family members depending on marital and child status. In addition to recognizing non-married couples, this bill recognizes that family takes many forms.
  
  Forty-seven other states compensate family members for emotional loss. This bill will not only better address and more fully right the wrong to the family of the deceased, it will also deter the negligent, reckless, sometimes criminal behavior that leads to needless deaths. It is ironic and contrary to public policy that currently a wrongdoer may take advantage of the law that makes it cheaper to kill someone than to seriously injure them. This bill would correct this harsh anomaly of the current wrongful death law."