Student model New York Senate approves wide slate of bills; three measures defeated

ALBANY — In a full-day undergraduate model session of the New York State Senate on April 21, student lawmakers advanced a large package of bills across criminal justice, public health, education, housing and agriculture while defeating three proposals.

The student-led session moved 33 calendar items. Lawmakers approved 30 bills, defeated three (including a repeal of concurrent sentencing proposals and two contested education/public-safety proposals) and adopted two ceremonial resolutions honoring program staff and family members of participants. Major topics that passed included a statewide police-misconduct database (s.2521), a requirement for infant CPR training associated with hospital births (s.2509), new standards for child forensic interviews (s.2517), pilot transit cards for CUNY students (s.2526), a tenant–landlord–contractor portal pilot to report housing repairs (s.2503), changes to qualified immunity standards in civil-rights suits (s.2522), and an antimicrobial-resistance measure for bovine farming (s.2516).

Why it matters: Although this was a mock/student model session, participants used authentic legislative procedure (calendar readings, sponsor explanations, Q&A and roll-call votes) to debate policy tradeoffs and fiscal implications. The package covered policies that, in a real legislative session, would touch policing oversight, K–12 and higher-education costs, public-health prevention programs and local housing enforcement.

Key votes and outcomes (selected highlights): - S.2521 (Lawson) — statewide law-enforcement misconduct database; passed, 24–5; effective 19 days after becoming law. The bill would make official misconduct and excessive-force findings available in a centralized state database. - S.2509 (Occhick/Siracek on the calendar) — infant CPR training requirement for first-time parents associated with hospital births; passed, 28–1; vote noted objections over regulatory enforcement and funding language. - S.2526 (Fernandez) — pilot transit card program for eligible CUNY students; passed, 27–2; fiscal impact discussed as $30,000,000 in a sponsor memo (projected MTA revenue implications and potential CUNY board contributions were mentioned). - S.2529 (Lupi) — agricultural anaerobic digestion program to generate farm biogas and local energy; passed, 29–0 (recorded as aye 29); took effect immediately in the session language. - S.2520 (McCahill) — consecutive sentencing as baseline for convictions (sentencing reform proposal); defeated, aye 10, nay 19. - S.2524 (Dotto) — mandatory group therapy for correctional officers with third-party psychologists; passed, aye 29. - S.2503 (Madapat) — Tenant–Landlord–Contractor (TLC) portal pilot to connect tenants, landlords and MWBE contractors; passed, 24–5; sponsor asked for $10,000,000 to start the pilot with a proposed $1 per rental-property fee to scale the fund if more counties opt in. - S.2522 (Jeremy Joseph) — changes to qualified immunity standard in civil-rights suits (objective reasonable-standard proposal); passed, aye 29; effective immediately and applies to causes of action on and after the effective date. - S.2516 (Holland) — regulations to limit nontherapeutic antibiotics in bovine production to address antimicrobial resistance; passed, aye 29; effective 2027-01-01.

Votes at a glance (full calendar summary): Calendar 1 — S.2510 (Olivera de Sosa) amend Penal Law/Criminal Procedure Law; passed; ayes 29. Calendar 2 — S.2509 (listed on calendar as Siracek; sponsor explained by Senator Occhick) amend Public Health Law (infant CPR); passed; ayes 28, nays 1. Calendar 3 — S.2521 (Lawson) amend Executive Law (state police misconduct database); passed; ayes 24, nays 5; effective in sponsor text 19 days after enactment. Calendar 4 — S.2529 (Lupi) amend Energy Law (anaerobic digesters pilot); passed; ayes 29; effective immediately. Calendar 5 — S.2517 (Bernardo Vasquez / Romero Vasquez on the floor) amend Criminal Law (Child Forensic Interviews Guideline Act); passed; ayes 28, nays 1. Calendar 6 — S.2526 (Fernandez) amend Education Law (CUNY pilot transit cards); passed; ayes 27, nays 2; sponsor referenced $30,000,000 fiscal projection in memo. Calendar 7 — S.2502 (Melillo/Malillo on the floor) amend Criminal Procedure Law (crisis intervention training requirement for peace officers); passed; ayes 29. Calendar 8 — S.2512 (Campos) amend Business Corporation Law (temporary IDs and Office of New Americans pilot); passed; ayes 22, nays 7. Calendar 9 — S.2532 (Fuentes) amend Public Health Law (school vape/smoking sensors policy); passed; ayes 28, nays 1; effective 1 year after enactment. Calendar 10 — S.2515 (Anderle) amend Education Law (limit paid third-party submission systems); passed; ayes 29; effective 2025-08-01. Calendar 11 — S.25107 / S.25107 variant (Ido/Ido Wu on calendar) amend State Finance Law (housing grants/property-tax relief language as read); passed; ayes 29. Calendar 12 — S.2514 (Perry) amend Election Law (tie-breakers/runoff clarifications); passed; ayes 29; effective immediately. Calendar 13 — S.2530 (O'Driscoll) amend Economic Development Law (New York–Ireland trade commission); passed narrowly, ayes 15, nays 14; effective immediately. Calendar 14 — S.2528 (Rich) amend Energy Law (pause certain CLCPA mandates during housing emergency); passed, ayes 22, nays 7. Calendar 15 — S.2519 (Adenikon) amend Education Law (African American studies requirement for high school); passed, ayes 29. Calendar 16 — S.2524 (Dotto) amend Correction Law (monthly group therapy for correctional officers); passed, ayes 29; effective in sponsor text 1 year after enactment. Calendar 17 — S.2531 (Del Rio) amend Public Health Law (Cancer Resources Program—printed educational materials requirement); passed, ayes 29. Calendar 18 — S.2523 (Joá Joseph) amend Public Health Law (Maternal Food Access and Equity Act); passed, ayes 29; immediate effect in text. Calendar 19 — S.2506 (Cooper) amend Civil Service/Labor/State Finance Law (federal worker reemployment program and expedited hiring); passed, ayes 29. Calendar 20 — S.2520 (McCahill) amend Penal Law (require consecutive sentences baseline); defeated, ayes 10, nays 19. Calendar 21 — (Kurop) amend Education Law (separate nonpublic transportation costs/pay per pupil approach); passed, ayes 29; effective 2025-06-01. Calendar 22 — S.2505 (Velasquez) amend Penal Law/Vehicle & Traffic Law/Criminal Procedure Law (tighten impaired-driving framework); passed, ayes 21, nays 8; effective next July 1 per sponsor text. Calendar 23 — S.2511 (De Yarza) amend Penal Law (state-level safety valve for qualifying nonviolent offenders); passed, ayes 28, nays 1; effective immediately in session text. Calendar 24 — S.2501 (Ahara Umuna) amend Education Law (mandatory financial-literacy semester for SUNY/CUNY seniors); passed, ayes 28, nays 1; effective 13 days after enactment. Calendar 25 — S.2518 (Olin) Secure 4 school-safety grant program (competitive grant for active-shooter preparedness); defeated on final calendar vote. Calendar 26 — S.2525 (Riordan/Reardon on the floor) conditional nonrenewable 3-year license for out-of-state certified teachers; student-teacher residency pilot with $4,000 monthly stipend; passed, ayes 29. Calendar 27 — S.2513 (Galarza) amend Education Law (AI-detection/handwriting requirement, educator training); defeated, ayes 6, nays 23. Calendar 28 — S.2522 (Jeremy Joseph) amend Civil Rights Law (modify qualified immunity standard toward an objective reasonable test); passed, ayes 29; effective immediately. Calendar 29 — S.2503 (Madapat) amend General Municipal Law (tenant–landlord–contractor portal pilot); passed, ayes 24, nays 5; effective the January following enactment per sponsor text. Calendar 30 — S.2508 (De la Cruz) amend Labor/“Label” law terminology in calendar — fast-food staffing/compensation; passed, ayes 25, nays 4; effective 90 days after enactment. Calendar 31 — S.2527 (Sonmez) amend Election Law (increase paid time off to vote from two to four hours; change thresholds); passed, ayes 26, nays 3; effective immediately. Calendar 32 — S.2516 (Holland) amend Agriculture & Markets Law (restrictions to reduce antimicrobial resistance in bovine operations); passed, ayes 29; effective 2027-01-01. Calendar 33 — S.2504 (Spertola) amend Education Law (financial-literacy requirement for high school students); passed, ayes 28, nays 1; effective July 1 after enactment.

Process and context notes: This was an undergraduate model (student) legislative session that followed formal floor procedures: bills were read from the calendar, sponsors explained measures, colleagues asked questions on the floor, and roll-call votes were recorded. Several debates raised concerns about implementation detail and funding sources (for example, who would pay for infant CPR training, how a statewide misconduct database would protect privacy, and the fiscal assumptions behind transit-card and grant proposals).

What’s next: Because this was a model session run by session assistants, bills are proposals in the exercise rather than statutory enactments; nonetheless, the debates and roll-call results illustrate which policy ideas drew majority support among participants and which generated sustained opposition.

Ending: The student session adjourned after completing the calendar and several closing remarks by student leaders who emphasized civic education and future public-service engagement.