New York Assembly adopts package of consent calendar measures; approves polystyrene cooler ban and health, veterans items

The New York State Assembly on Feb. 3, 2025, adopted a batch of resolutions and consent‑calendar bills, including a measure described on the floor as banning most single‑use polystyrene coolers and bills expanding health screenings for incarcerated people and benefits related to veterans, all by voice vote or recorded vote with unanimous support reported.

The package of adopted items included ceremonial resolutions memorializing Feb. 3 as Four Chaplains Day and declaring February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Canadian Heritage Day, Students with Disabilities Advocacy Month and Marfan Syndrome Awareness Month. Members also advanced and passed a range of bills on the consent calendar that modify state laws across environmental conservation, real property, veterans services, insurance, banking and other areas.

Why it matters: Several of the passed measures have programmatic or policy effects (a statewide prohibition on most polystyrene single‑use coolers, and a bill to ensure breast‑cancer screening access for incarcerated people were discussed on the floor), while many other items were routine consent‑calendar actions that revise statutory language or set effective dates.

Key floor remarks and outcomes

- Polystyrene cooler ban: Assemblymember Jeffrey Epstein explained his affirmative vote while urging colleagues to support “banning power styrene with those styrofoam coolers with limited exceptions,” calling the step “an important environmental step for the state to take those out of the waste stream, those single use coolers.” The clerk recorded the vote and the chair announced the bill passed (recorded as “Ayes, 144; Noes, 0”).

- Access to breast‑cancer screening for incarcerated people: Assemblymember Jessica Torres spoke in support of a bill she described as her first passed measure in the chamber, saying it “addresses a critical healthcare gap for incarcerated individuals, ensuring equitable access to lifesaving breast cancer screenings and diagnostic testing.” The bill was adopted (announced as “Ayes, 146; Noes, 0”).

- Veterans services bill honoring Sergeant Jimenez: Assemblymember Carmen Cruz spoke at length about a veterans services bill that she said honors Sergeant Jimenez, a Corona, Queens native who disappeared in Iraq, and described the bill as enabling supports for service members and their families. She noted the measure had been vetoed in prior years and thanked former committee chairs who helped advance it; the bill was recorded as passed (announced as “Ayes, 146; Noes, 0”).

Other consent‑calendar actions

The Assembly took up and recorded votes on many consent items, reading final sections and recording votes as the clerk called them. Examples recorded on the floor include: Assembly bills and rules reports described as amending the Executive Law, Public Service Law, Environmental Conservation Law, Real Property Law, Family Court Act and General Business Law, Veterans Services Law, Public Health Law, Correction Law, Insurance Law, Banking Law, State Finance Law and Financial Services Law. Where the clerk read a bill's final section the presiding officer ordered the clerk to record the vote; the chair then announced the results, with the majority of these measures passing unanimously as recorded on the floor (announced tallies included 144, 145, 146 and 147 ayes on different items; nos were announced as 0). Some bills were laid aside as noted on the record.

Procedure and next steps

Speaker pro tempore and floor leaders said members will hold a majority conference immediately following adjournment and that the Assembly will reconvene at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. The enacted bills take effect according to the effective dates read on the floor (immediately, on the ninetieth day or the January 1/effective date specified in each bill's final section).

Notable quotes

“Banning polystyrene with those styrofoam coolers with limited exceptions... I think this is really an important environmental step for the state to take those out of the waste stream, those single use coolers,” Assemblymember Jeffrey Epstein said on the floor.

“[This bill] addresses a critical healthcare gap for incarcerated individuals, ensuring equitable access to lifesaving breast cancer screenings and diagnostic testing,” Assemblymember Jessica Torres said when explaining her vote.

“...This bill has been a long time coming. Sergeant Jimenez... disappeared in Iraq while fighting for our country... we have honored her son's sacrifice for our country,” Assemblymember Carmen Cruz said in explaining the veterans services measure.

Ending

Most items were handled on the consent calendar with little floor debate after initial explanations; the Assembly adopted the listed measures and scheduled follow‑up work in committee and the majority conference after adjournment.