Gov. Hochul gave herself nearly $1 billion for a slush fund in this summer's state budget, with no restrictions on what projects or groups she could spend the money on. It allowed her to hand out cash with no review by the Legislature. Critics.
NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul signed two pieces of legislation Tuesday to expand transparency in government and ensure an open process at the state and local levels, including a
ALBANY â Two proposed measures in the state Legislature would amend New Yorkâs Open Meetings Law and ensure municipalities provide proper access to public documents and data â especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.
Bill No. A.1228/S.01150 would require all documents used or discussed during a public municipal meeting to be posted online at least 24 hours beforehand. It would also require municipalities to stream the meeting on the governmental bodyâs website to a practicable extent, post a video of the meeting on its website within five business days, and require the public body to keep recordings for at least five years.
New York is the latest state to consider laws that would require social media companies to provide and maintain a way for people to report hate speech on their
New York legislators may make it illegal to falsify COVID-19 vaccination records. State Sen. Anna Kaplan, D-Carle Place, has introduced S.5416 in the state Senate to amend the state Public Health and Penal laws to prohibit the falsification of COVID-19 vaccination records. Changes to the Public Health Law would create a definition for a COVID-19 vaccination record card and Digital Vaccine Passport. Kaplan then proposes creation of the crimes of first- and second-degree falsification of COVID-19 records in the state Penal Law. Second-degree falsification of COVID-19 vaccination records would be a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine if someone who is not a licensed medical professional intentionally or knowingly falsifies or alters a COVID-19 vaccination record card or digital vaccine passport to misrepresent a history and record of vaccine treatment.