In the News – State

2019 Legislative Session:  In the Books

End of Session Push Brings Home a Number of Progressive Priorities

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie brought the 2019 legislative session to a close at 7:20 a.m.  today. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins dispatched the State’s upper house a few hours earlier, banging her gavel shortly before 1 a.m.    With that, the 2019 legislative session was in the books with both houses approving 935 bills for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s consideration.   

The Senate and Assembly maintained and built upon the progressive momentum that brought election reform, abortion rights, gun control, a ban on plastic bags, the Crime Victims Act, and congestion pricing in the early session.   Negotiations between the Legislature and the Governor came down to the wire, resulting in the following end-of-session score card:

✔ Adoptees Rights

✔ Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act

✔ End Gay Panic Defense

✔ Driver Licenses for Undocumented Individuals

✔ Marijuana Decriminalization

✔ Equal Pay for Women

✔ Minority & Woman Owned Business Program Expansion

✔ 2nd & 3rd Degree Rape Statute of Limitation Expansion 

✔ Farm Worker Act                                                  

✔ Sexual Harassment Protections in the Workplace 

✔ Solitary Confinement Administrative Actions

X  Automatic Voter Registration

X  Gestational Surrogacy 

X  Marijuana Legalization 

X  Public Works

Bills Passed by Both Houses

A57 (Sponsored by M of A Rosenthal L / Senator Benjamin) — Requires domestic violence and sexual assault awareness education for persons engaged in the practice of nail specialty, waxing, natural hair styling, esthetics and cosmetology.

A264B (Sponsored by M of A Cahill / Senator Krueger) — Establishes patient protections from excessive hospital emergency charges; includes hospital charges, including hospital charges for inpatient services which follow an emergency room visit. 

A670A (Sponsored by M of A Bronson / Senator Kennedy) —  Requires blanket health insurance policies to provide coverage for outpatient treatment by mental health practitioners (mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, creative arts therapists and psychoanalysts) licensed pursuant to article 163 of the education law. 

A1093B (Sponsored by M of A Paulin / Senator Brooks) — Relates to authorizing additional paid leave for health related services for certain employees not employed by the state who served in a combat theater or combat zone of operations. 

A2257A (Sponsored by M of A Barnwell / Senator Addabbo) — Establishes a commission, “New York seawall study commission,” which will study the feasibility, costs, impacts, and best locations for construction of a seawall or sea gate being created to protect the city of New York from sea level rise and storm surge along the entire coastline. 

A2317B (Sponsored by M of A Solages / Senator Kaplan) — Relates to the composition of the local advisory board for the Belmont racetrack facility. 

A2374 (Sponsored by M of A Dinowitz / Senator Comrie) —   Relates to requiring a consumer credit reporting agency to offer identity theft prevention and mitigation services in the case of a breach of the security of such agency’s system. 

A2969A (Sponsored by M of A Peoples-Stokes / Senator Breslin) — Prohibits a health care plan from making prescription drug formulary changes during a contract year. 

A4079B (Sponsored by M of A Joyner / Senator Gounardes) —  Relates to increasing certain special accidental death benefits; increases the special accidental death benefit paid to a widow or widower or the deceased member’s children under the age of eighteen, or if a student, under the age of twenty-three. 

A5940 (Sponsored by M of A Abbate / Senator Gounardes) —  Restores 55/30 retirement provisions for New York City court clerks of uniformed court system and reduces the retirement age from 63 to 62. 

A7250B (Sponsored by M of A Fall / Senator Bailey) — Establishes requirements for trampoline parks. 

A7587A (Sponsored by M of A Abinanti / Senator Carlucci) — Relates to enacting the “toll payer protection act” which includes a toll by mail system for the payment of tolls by electronic toll devices.

A8003 (Sponsored by M of A Abbate / Senator Kaminsky) — Relates to mandatory retirement age; increases the age at which a member must retire to receive an additional pension from sixty-two to sixty-five.

A8126A (Sponsored by M of A Paulin / Senator Comrie) — Establishes the “Gateway Development Commission Act” which enables such commission to facilitate a passenger rail project between Penn Station, Newark, New Jersey and Penn Station, New York, New York. 

A8414 (Sponsored by M of A Bichotte / Senator Sanders) — Extends and expands the State’s minority and women business enterprises program.

A8419 (Sponsored by M of A Nolan / Senator Ramos) — Enacts the farm laborers fair labor practices act. 

A8421 (Sponsored by M of A Simotas / Senator Biaggi) — Provides increased protections for protected classes and special protections for employees who have been sexually harassed. 

S1720 (Sponsored by Senator Ramos / M of A Titus) — Relates to developing and implementing programs to prevent workplace violence in public schools. 

S1810 (Sponsored by Senator Rivera / M of A Gottfried) — Requires a utilization review of a request for nursing home care after an inpatient hospital admission to be completed within 24 hours of the request. 

S1826C (Sponsored by Senator Kennedy / M of A Rosenthal L) — Enacts the “New York call center jobs act.” 

S2198 (Sponsored by Senator Bailey / M of A Lentol) — Relates to the definition of qualified agencies; adds public defenders, legal aid societies, and assigned counsel administrators. 

S2394 (Sponsored by Senator Breslin / M of A Cusick) — Relates to payment in construction contracts; specifies the meaning of “substantial completion” for the purposes of requisition payments in construction contracts. 

S2680A (Sponsored by Senator Mayer / M of A Rosenthal L) — Authorizes the use of campaign funds for childcare expenses where they are incurred in the campaign or in the execution of the duties of public office or party position. 

S2844B (Sponsored by Senator Ramos / M of A Rosenthal L) — Relates to securing payment of wages for work already performed; creates a lien remedy for all employees; provides grounds for attachment; relates to procedures where employees may hold shareholders of non-publicly traded corporations personally liable for wage theft; relates to rights for victims of wage theft to hold the ten members with the largest ownership interests in a company personally liable for wage theft. 

S3247B (Sponsored by Senator Salazar / M of A Rosenthal L) — Authorizes certain law enforcement officers and firefighters to possess and administer epinephrine by use of an epinephrine auto-injector device. 

S3419 (Sponsored by Senator Montgomery / M of A Weprin) — Establishes the right of adoptees to receive a certified copy of their birth certificate upon reaching the age of 18. 

S3421A (Sponsored by Senator Savino / M of A Bronson) — Makes care and services provided by licensed mental health practitioners eligible for coverage under the Medicaid program. 

S3631 (Sponsored by Senator Breslin / M of A Cahill) — Relates to expanding the availability of meaningful service contracts to protect New Yorkers leasing automobiles for their personal use from unanticipated “lease-end” charges related to excess use or wear and tear of the leased vehicle. 

S3813 (Sponsored by Senator Kaplan / M of A Abbate) — Relates to providing accidental disability retirement benefits for chief fire marshals, assistant chief fire marshals, division supervising fire marshals, supervising fire marshals, fire marshals and fire marshal trainees in Nassau county. 

S3852A (Sponsored by Senator Martinez / M of A Jean-Pierre) — Enacts “Shannon’s law”; relates to requiring insurance companies to cover annual mammograms for breast cancer screening for covered persons aged thirty-five and older. 

S3966A (Sponsored by Senator Salazar / M of A Lentol) — Relates to enacting the “safe way home act”; provides that sexual assault crime victims and crime victim advocates shall be entitled to free transportation to and from medical facilities such sexual assault crime victims had received initial victim services from. 

S4019A (Sponsored by Senator Thomas / M of A Gunther) — Requires that a retail lessee shall not be liable for charges for the early termination of a retail lease agreement of a motor vehicle if he or she has deceased before the end of such lease. 

S4080C (Sponsored by Senator Savino / M of A Crespo) — Requires the licensing of persons engaged in the design, construction, operation, inspection, maintenance, alteration and repair of elevators and other automated people moving devices. 

S4203A (Sponsored by Senator Savino / M of A Joyner) — Relates to orders committing guardianship and custody of a child; enacts provisions relating to post-termination visitation or contact. 

S4347 (Sponsored by Senator Krueger / M of A Paulin) — Codify the federal prohibition on not-for-profit corporations participating or intervening in political campaigns.

S4351 (Sponsored by Senator Kennedy / M of A Englebright) — Establishes a postconsumer paint collection program.  

S4571 (Sponsored by Senator Gaughran / M of A Barrett) — Directs the department of financial services, in consultation with the commissioner of health, to study and report upon insurance coverage for the treatment of Lyme disease. 

S4573 (Sponsored by Senator Kennedy / M of A Ryan) — Relates to decreasing the length of the suspension period applicable to certain individuals who lose their jobs due to a labor dispute, such as a strike, and who seek to obtain unemployment insurance benefits; decreases the suspension period from seven consecutive weeks to seven consecutive calendar days; and permits the waiting period to be served.

S5069 (Sponsored by Senator Parker / M of A Lifton) — Directs the department of civil service to study and publish a report evaluating public employers’ wage disparities related to the job titles segregated by the gender and race/ethnicity identification of the employees in the title. 

S5225A (Sponsored by Senator Gounardes / M of A Carroll) — Authorizes the commissioner of motor vehicles to require the submission of physicians’, physicians’ assistants or nurse practitioners’ statements on a scheduled basis under certain circumstances; relates to the licensing of drivers where there is evidence of the loss of consciousness by such person; defines “loss of consciousness”; makes related provisions. 

S5248B (Sponsored by Senator Biaggi / M of A McMahon) — Prohibits wage differentials based on protected class status. 

S5329A (Sponsored by Senator Breslin / M of A Magnarelli) — Relates to increasing insurance limits for certain for-hire vehicles; includes injury to or destruction of property under such limits. 

S5430 (Sponsored by Senator Comrie / M of A Dinowitz) – Relates to the minimum requirements for a quorum; there shall be no less than a majority of the total number of members of the commission in order to transact any business, perform any duty or exercise any power. 

S5575B (Sponsored by Senator Thomas / M of A DenDekker) — Relates to notification of a security breach; includes credit and debit cards; increases civil penalties. 

S5705 (Sponsored by Senator Mayer / M of A Benedetto) — Relates to including bus drivers and monitors as school personnel for policies and procedures concerning school safety plans on school busses. 

S5766 (Sponsored by Senator Gaughran / M of A Lavine) — Relates to the residency of correction officers employed by the county of Nassau. 

S5791 (Sponsored by Senator Ramos / M of A Crespo) — Establishes penalties for threatening, penalizing, or in any other manner discriminating or retaliating against any employee, including but not limited to contacting United States immigration authorities or otherwise threatening to report an employee’s suspected citizenship or immigration status. 

S5859B (Sponsored by Senator Thomas / M of A Buchwald) — Relates to the disclosure of liability of a motor vehicle lessee in the case of a total loss or the vehicle is rendered inoperable; requires disclosure of lessor policies in the case of a total loss or vehicle rendered inoperable. 

S5933A (Sponsored by Senator Comrie / M of A Kim) — Relates to damages to contracts occasioned by delay of state agency. 

S6184A (Sponsored by Senator Metzger / M of A Lupardo) — provides for the licensing of cannabinoid related hemp extract.

S6208 (Sponsored by Senator Jackson / M of A O’Donnell) — Requires contracts for the transportation of school children in a city of at least one million inhabitants to contain provisions for the retention or preference in hiring of school bus workers. 

S6209A (Sponsored by Senator Bailey / M of A Wright) — Prohibits race discrimination based on natural hair or hairstyles.

S6239A (Sponsored by Senator Savino / M of A Rodriguez) — Relates to the authority of the New York Black Car Operators’ Injury Compensation Fund, Inc. to provide additional benefits, consistent with its plan of operation, for all black car operators. 

S6265A (Sponsored by Senator Gianaris / M of A Niou) — Ensures that utility employees, who currently fall outside the definition of an employee that may receive the prevailing wage, fall under such wage requirements. 

S6293A (Sponsored by Senator Comrie / M of A Braunstein) — Authorizes in the city of New York, for certain public work undertaken pursuant to project labor agreements, use of the alternative delivery method known as design-build contracts. 

S6313 (Sponsored by Senator Gounardes / M of A Abbate) – Extends the period of time to file an application for an accidental death benefit after the death of a member of the New York state and local employees’ retirement system or the New York state and local police and fire retirement system. 

S6374 (Sponsored by Senator Gianaris / M of A Blake) — Relates to the presidential primary, to provide for the election of delegates to a national party convention or a national party conference in 2020; establishes the “Presidential” primary date as April 28, 2020. 

S6436 (Sponsored by Senator Montgomery / M of A Rosenthal L) — Relates to equal pay for similar work protections for protected classes. 

S6517 (Sponsored by Senator Stavisky / M of A Romeo) — Relates to the practice of registered pharmacy technicians.

S6531 (Sponsored by Senator Breslin / M of A Gottfried) — Regulates Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

S6532A (Sponsored by Senator Kavanagh / M of A Jacobson) — Provides that any change of enrollment after February fourteenth shall take effect seven days after the succeeding June primary. 

S6544A (Sponsored by Senator Krueger / M of A Cahill) — Establishes protections from excess hospital charges (Chapter Amendment). 

S6546 (Sponsored by Senator Biaggi / M of A Simotas) — Extends the statutes of limitations for certain sex crimes. 

S6549 (Sponsored by Senator Carlucci / M of A Crespo) — Prohibits employers from seeking salary history from applicants. 

S6573 (Sponsored by Senator Hoylman / M of A O’Donnell) — Bans gay panic defense. 

S6579A (Sponsored by Senator Bailey / M of A Peoples-Stokes) — Provides for vacating records for certain proceedings and modifies the definition of smoking. 

S6594 (Sponsored by Senator Biaggi / M of A Simotas) — Sexual Harassment Protections – Chapter Amendment. 

S6599 (Sponsored by Senator Kaminsky / M of A Englebright) — Enacts the New York state climate leadership and community protection act. 

S6614 (Sponsored by Senator Bailey / M of A Peoples-Stokes) — Provides for vacating records for certain proceedings. 

S6615 (Sponsored by Senator Krueger / M of A Weinstein) — Omnibus Cleanup Bill (“Slim Ugly”).

S6616 (Sponsored by Senator Krueger / M of A Weinstein) — Amends the Capital Projects budget. 

In the News – City

Governor Cuomo: Assaults Upon Transit Workers End Now!!!

Announces Agreement to Add 500 Additional Uniformed Officers to NYC Subway and Bus Systems to Improve Public Safety, Protect Workers, and Combat Fare Evasion

Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced an agreement to add 500 additional uniformed officers to the New York City Transit system.  The addition is part of a comprehensive action plan to improve safety across New York City’s mass transit system, address the rising number of assaults on transit workers, and combat the growing problem of fare evasion.

Governor Cuomo reached the agreement with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance, NYPD Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, and MTA Chairman Pat Foye. The New York County District Attorney will provide $40 million over four years to fund associated costs of the personnel and provide construction modifications and new video technology to target station locations.

“We’ve had 2,300 harassment incidents of MTA employees, 100 assaults – stabbings, punching, violence against MTA employees. MTA employees – these are public servants. These are people who are doing a very difficult job. You think it’s easy? Go spend a day working in the subway tunnel and tell me that it’s an easy job. Spend a day on a subway train driving, conducting it all day long and tell me it’s easy. One hundred serious incidents, 1,200 incidents of harassment. We cannot allow it. They do not deserve it. They need more protection. The TWU, which is their union for many of the workers, has been complaining about it and they are right. Public employees must be protected at work and these attacks must stop,” Governor Cuomo explained.  

From 2013 and 2017, assaults reported by New York City Transit workers have increased by 15.2 percent, and lost revenue from fare evasion increased from $105 million in 2015 to $225 million in 2018. New data shows the upward trend is continuing with year to date totals reaching $243 million in the 12-month period ending in March 2019.

From the 500 officers, 200 will be redeployed MTA officers, 200 will be additional NYPD officers who will be assigned to transit, and 100 will be bridge and tunnel officers who will be transferred to New York City transit at the bridges and tunnels.  The new program also includes additional measures to deter fare evasion with enhanced exit gates and additional monitors and cameras throughout the system. 

New York City Council Adopts the FY2020 Budget

The New York City Council voted on Wednesday to adopt the $92.8 billion. Fiscal Year 2020 budget.

“A budget is always an expression of priorities, and today we are showing New Yorkers that they are our top priority. This budget is for everyone, with historic investments in the parks, libraries and schools we all depend on. It is also a fiscally responsible investment in our future which includes $250 million in budget reserves,” said Speaker Corey Johnson.

The budget included a number of Council-driven initiatives including:

• The New York Immigrant Family Unit Project. The Council will provide $16.6 million for legal representation for immigrants detained and facing deportation who cannot afford an attorney.
• Criminal Justice Initiatives. Collectively, the Council will allocate $27.2 million to criminal justice services such as alternatives to incarceration, post-arrest diversion programs, and supports for people involved in the sex trade.
• Public Health Funding. This initiative will provide $6 million to restore public health funding cuts in six core services areas: community health assessment, family health, communicable disease control, chronic disease prevention, environmental health, and emergency preparedness and response.
• LGBT Community Services. A total of $3.7 million will be allocated to support coordinated delivery of health and human services for the LGBT population and their families.
• Alternatives to Incarceration. This initiative will allocate $13.5 million to support programs that provide individuals involved in the criminal justice system with intermediate sanctions, such as community service and substance abuse counseling, as an alternative to pre-trial detention, a jail sentence, or prison.
• Access to Healthy Food and Nutritional Education. The Council will provide $2.3 million to support the expansion of access to healthy food and improve understanding of nutrition and wholesome food choices.
• Foreclosure Prevention Programs. This initiative will receive $3.3 million for programs such as the purchase of distressed mortgage notes, foreclosure prevention counseling and referral services, legal assistance, outreach, education, and advocacy around sub-prime lending and mortgage foreclosures.
• Day Laborer Workforce Initiative. This nearly $3 million investment will support the expansion and development of day laborer centers.

Additional highlights of the FY2020 budget include:

Education

• Social workers. The Adopted Budget will increase the number of social workers from last year by 200 and includes $30 million in related funding.  The 200 social workers include 115 from Bridging the Gap, and 85 specialists working within Thrive who are focused on the mental health needs of students, paid for by $10.9 million in savings taken from Thrive.
• Promote Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives. The Administration has agreed to provide $2.2 million to support diversity and inclusion initiatives at DOE.
• LGBTQ Curriculum. The Adopted Budget will include $1 million for this inclusive curriculum, including a family engagement component.

Social Services

• Foster care initiatives. The Adopted Budget will provide $12.8 million to fund Fair Futures, a support system for foster youth, from middle school through age 26, and recommendations from the Foster Care Taskforce.
• Senior meals. The Department for the Aging’s budget will include $10 million, growing to $15 million next year, to improve senior center meals and support wage increases for kitchen staff. The Council also added $500,000 for emergency, take-home meals for seniors.
• Transgender healthcare. At Health + Hospitals, $390,000 will be baselined for transgender healthcare training.

Quality of Life

• Transportation. Capital funding of $57 million to fund an increase in the number of accessible pedestrian signals to assist visually impaired walkers, and $262.8 million that will allow for the resurfacing of 1,100 lane miles.
• Libraries. The three library systems will receive $33 million in additional funding, including the restoration of the libraries’ PEG, $19 million of which will be baselined.
• Cultural organizations. These City resources will see an increase of $26.7 million.
• Litter basket pickups. The Adopted Budget will fund additional trash pickup of corner litter baskets with an $8.6 million investment.

Finance

• $250 million in budget reserves, with $150 million going in the general reserves and $100 million in the Retiree Health Benefits Trust.
• Property Tax Assessors. The Department of Finance will have an additional $250,000 to hire an additional four tax assessors.

Wage Equity 

• Pay parity across the early childhood education system. The Administration is in negotiations with providers to ensure pay parity across the system for all early childhood education employees, both teachers and non-teachers, with funding to support that agreement to be added to the budget after adoption.
• Pay parity for public defense and civil legal service providers. The Administration has committed to providing initial funding in Fiscal 2020 that addresses the immediate recruitment and retention challenges and attempts to slow down the high rate of attrition and inability to recruit experienced staff. At the same time, they will work to build a four-year, full implementation plan to reach pay parity with the Law Department by March 2020 for inclusion in the Fiscal 2021 Executive Budget.
• Support for human service providers. The Administration will fund individual community-based organizations’ requests for documented, indirect costs above the current ten percent ceiling with actions to be reflected in the November Plan.

Briefs

Legislature Passes Legislation to Decriminalize Marijuana

Includes provisions to expunge records for those with low-level marijuana offenses

The State Senate and Assembly last night passed has passed legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and expunge the records of those with low-level convictions (A.8420-A/S6779A sponsored by Senator Jamaal Bailey and M of A Crystal Peoples-Stokes).

Under current law, possession of small amounts of marijuana is punishable by a fine for the first offense, but once the small amount is open to public view or being burned, it is often charged as a misdemeanor. This bill would define unlawful possession in the first degree as possessing more than one ounce of marijuana, which would result in a maximum of a $200 fine. Unlawful possession of marijuana in the second degree would result in a maximum of a $50 fine.

In addition, the legislation would expunge the records of those with certain misdemeanor marijuana related records and or charges. The chief administrator of the courts would also be required to notify the commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the heads of all appropriate police departments and law enforcement agencies that the charges and records have been expunged. Additionally, the chief administrator of the courts would ensure that no written or electronic report of a criminal history record search conducted by the Office of Court Administration contains information relating to the expunged record.

Legislature Passes Legislation to Reform New York State’s MWBE Program

The State legislature this week passed legislation (A8414/S6575) to to renew and expand New York State’s Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Program.  The measure, sponsored by Senator James Sanders and M. of A. Rodneyse Bichotte, was one of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s program bills.

Provisions of the bill include:

• Increasing the “Personal Net Worth” cap from $3.5 million to $15 million, thereby minimizing an unnecessary barrier to participation while also allowing for regulations to raise the cap above $15 million on an industry by industry basis;
• Requiring contractors to make a good faith effort to retain an MWBE subcontractor before they are able to apply for a waiver;
• Requiring waivers to be reported quarterly at a minimum, and in some cases monthly, to the Division of MWBE;
• Requiring waivers to be posted on the websites of contracting agencies to promote greater transparency;
• Requiring increased annual reporting by the State Division of MWBE and the contracting agencies regarding expenditures by the state that are exempt from program goals, four year growth plans by agencies, annual participation rates for each agency, total number of MWBEs in the reporting year, and total dollar value spent on MWBE contracts and subcontracts;
• Establishing new goals for the program based on the results of the 2016 disparity study;
• Increasing the period of time that businesses are certified from three to five years;
• Increasing the discretionary threshold from $200,000 to $500,000;
• Requiring contracting agencies to establish four year growth plans regarding the utilization of MWBEs;
• Authorizing the Division of MWBE to establish outreach events, training seminars and educational opportunities throughout the state; and
• Establishing a “Workforce Diversity Program” which would require state agencies doing construction projects to meet aspirational goals for a diverse workforce.

Mayor de Blasio & U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Carson Announce Appointment of Gregory Russ as Chair of the New York City Housing Authority

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Secretary Ben Carson this week announced the appointment of Gregory Russ as Chair of the New York City Housing Authority. Russ most recently served as CEO of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, Executive Director of the Cambridge Housing Authority, and Deputy Executive Director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. 

Russ was selected by Mayor de Blasio from a slate of candidates that was jointly approved by himself, the Southern District of New York and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.    He will take office in mid-August 2019. Kathryn Garcia, who has been serving as Chair on an interim basis, will return to her position as Commissioner of the Sanitation Department.

Russ holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and is a board member of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities. He is also former president of the Public Housing Authority Director’s Association and a member of the Federal Reserve Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Advisory Council.

Mayor de Blasio Nominates Jeffrey D. Roth as Chair and Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission

Mayor de Blasio this week nominated Jeffrey D. Roth as the new Chair and Commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). Roth’s nomination will be submitted to the Council this month for its advice and consent, as required by the City Charter.

Roth is departing from his role as the Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Veterans’ Services. He previously served as Assistant Commissioner at the FDNY and as Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs at the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). 

He holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Urban Planning from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from James Madison College at Michigan State University. 

Coming Up

New York State

The Legislature is not in session 

New York City

Monday June 24th 

Committee on Transportation, Council Chambers – City Hall, 10 a.m.

Committee on Oversight and Investigations, Council Chambers – City Hall, 10 a.m.

Committee on Environmental Protection, Committee Room – City Hall, 1 p.m.

Committee on Hospitals, Committee Room – City Hall, 1 p.m.

Committee on Women and Gender Equity, Committee Room – 250 Broadway, 14th Floor, 1 p.m.

Tuesday June 25th 

Committee on General Welfare, Council Chambers – City Hall, 10 a.m.

Committee on Education, Council Chambers – City Hall, 1 p.m.

Committee on Higher Education, Council Chambers – City Hall, 1 p.m.

Committee on Civil Service and Labor, Committee Room – City Hall, 2 p.m.

Wednesday June 26th  

Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, Committee Room – City Hall, 10 a.m.

Committee on Land Use, Committee Room – City Hall, 10:15 a.m.

City Council Stated Meeting, Council Chambers – City Hall, 1:30 p.m.

Thursday June 27th 

Committee on Public Safety, Committee Room – 250 Broadway. 16th Floor, 10 a.m.

Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Committee Room – City Hall, 10 a.m.

Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing, Committee Room – City Hall, 10 a.m. 

Committee on Cultural Affairs and Business Licensing, Council Chambers – City Hall, 1 p.m.

Committee on Small Business, Committee Room – 250 Broadway, 16th Floor, 1 p.m.

Committee on Housing and Buildings, Council Chambers – City Hall

Download Newsletter