LEGISLATION ASSEMBLYWOMAN FERNANDEZ HAS HELPED PASS IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS

A4950B (Magnarelli) – This legislation is intended to protect the health, safety, and welfare of schoolchildren riding school buses, by allowing for the use of mobile cameras mounted on school buses, as well as stationary cameras.

A6884 (Cook) – This bill requires people offering weight loss services to provide notice of certain risks, and provides consumers with guidance and protection when choosing weight loss services and products.

A7206 (Stirpe) – This bill establishes a program to provide education and training to individuals fifty years of age and older regarding the transition to an entrepreneur and small business developer, to encourage and increase participation in small business development.

A7347 (Rosenthal) – This legislation renames the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services to be the office of addiction services and supports. This will remove outdated and demeaning definitions related to addiction disorders by changing the name of the Office to de-stigmatize the disease of addiction, and to clarify the scope of Office responsibilities.

A916 (Peoples-Stokes) – This bill establishes the department of corrections shall provide an inmate, upon his or her discharge, with educational information about the prevention of HIV.

A484 (Rosenthal) – It is imperative that as we educate young men and women about their health, we instill in them the importance of being their own healthcare advocate. This bill requires school districts and health care practitioner to provide informational materials concerning menstrual disorders.

A7277 (Rosenthal) – Opioid antagonists had become an important tool in the battle against the opioid epidemic. This bill will add Good Samaritan protections to the list of information on the card that accompanies opioid antagonists.

Please see the State Assembly Website for more. Click here.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEGISLATION PACKAGE PASSED

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported that "1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking."

In order to protect victims of domestic violence and allow them to find housing away from their abusers, New York State has passed a package of laws, amongst which includes allows early lease termination by domestic violence survivors to ensure both their immediate physical safety and long-term financial security (A4267, Hevesi), allows domestic violence victims to terminate telephone and cable contracts without facing cancellation penalties (A5318, Rozic), requires health insurers and health maintenance organizations to provide victims of domestic violence with the option of providing alternative contact information so that they are able to access their claims and benefit information without fear that any correspondence may be intercepted by their abuser (A2832, Cymbrowitz), increases the statute of limitations for civil suits related to an injury caused by domestic violence from one year to two years (A1945, Zebrowski), and prohibits employers from discriminating against domestic violence survivors (A5618, Weinstein).

To read the entire summary of the package, which includes measures to recognize economic abuse that stems from domestic violence as well as care received by health establishments, please click here.

For more information on the full package of the bills,

A CLOSER LOOK: THE GREEN LIGHT BILL

The Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, which I am proud to support, allows undocumented immigrants to apply for a standard state driver's license by restricting the Department of Motor Vehicles from retaining certain information from those applying for standard drivers' licenses, such as documented legal presence or a valid social security number (A3675, Crespo). Driving on the road without a license or insurance is not only dangerous to the drivers, but also those around them. Allowing for undocumented immigrants to apply for a standard driver's license will make our streets safer while also allowing for a more capable work force. It will also bring an estimated $26 million in one-time revenue and $57 million in recurring annual revenue from licensing fees and sales, gas and other taxes as more people buy cars.

For more information, click here.

PROTECTION AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE PASSED

Places we used to frequent without a second thought – movie theaters, schools, houses of worship – have become sites of tragic mass shootings. And now, with the advancement of technology and creation of undetectable guns, even places with high security may not be safe. Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez  announced that she passed legislation criminalizing the manufacture, sale, transport and possession of firearms, rifles, shotguns or the major components of such weapons that are undetectable by a metal detector and other machines commonly used for security purposes (A763A, Abinanti). This gun legislation builds on the Assembly’s continued efforts to prevent and reduce gun violence in New York State.

For more information, click here.

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