Senate Judiciary Committee advances multiple bills to the floor, sends constitutional resolution to finance

The Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary, chaired by State Senator Bridal Armand Siegel, advanced a series of bills to the Senate floor and sent a constitutional amendment to the finance committee during its March 25 meeting.

The committee reported multiple bills affecting landlord-tenant transactions, civil-practice limitations, county court judgeships, contractor surety bonds, bail-data review, condominium owner protections, disaster protections for self-storage liens, homestead exemptions and confidentiality for law enforcement peer-support communications. A concurrent resolution proposing a constitutional amendment concerning the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic sports complex in Essex County was referred to the finance committee.

The most high-profile measures included a bill to require review of bail data reports by the state commission on judicial conduct and a proposal to increase the number of county court judges in certain jurisdictions. Both measures were voted out of committee and reported forward. Several bills drew recorded negative or “without recommendation” positions from individual senators; those positions are noted below with the actions the committee took.

Votes and actions reported by the committee

- Senate Print 947 (sponsor: Senator Jackson): Amends the Real Property Law to prohibit residential landlords from charging tenants fees for rent payments made through automated clearing house or online payment systems. Motion moved by Senator Bailey and seconded by Senator Lou. The committee indicated its approval by voice vote; Senator Colombo was recorded in the negative, and Senators Rhodes and Skoufis were recorded as “without recommendation.” The committee reported the bill to the Senate floor.

- Senate Print 2146 (sponsor: Senator Cooney): Amends the Civil Practice Law and Rules to provide a statute of limitations for certain actions against professional engineers, architects, landscape architects, land surveyors and construction contractors, and to repeal related CPLR provisions. Motion moved by Senator May and seconded by Senator Lou. Several senators were noted as “without recommendation” (including senators Kenzanar, Fitzpatrick, Rhodes, Martin, O'Mara and Palumbo). The committee reported the bill forward (transcript: "reported to the court").

- Senate Print 4836 (sponsor: Senator Faye): Amends the Judiciary Law to increase the number of county court judges in certain jurisdictions. Motion moved by Senator Cuomo and seconded by Senator Skoufis. Senator Cantazneri Fitzpatrick was recorded as without recommendation. The committee reported the bill to the finance committee.

- Senate Print 4840 (sponsor: Senator Fade): Amends the Lien Law to require a surety bond for contractors and subcontractors where no public fund has been established to finance a public improvement. Motion moved by Senator Loom and seconded by Senator Mayer. The bill was reported to the Senate floor.

- Senate Print 4957 (sponsor: Senator Bailey): Amends the Judiciary Law and the Executive Law to provide for review of bail-data reports by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Motion moved by Senator Liu and seconded by Senator Stavisky. Senators O'Mara, Martin and Rhodes were recorded as negative on the motion. The committee reported the bill to the Senate floor.

- Senate Print 5089 (sponsor: Senator Sepulveda): Creates a Residential Condominium Owner Bill of Rights by amending the Real Property Law. Motion moved by Senator Mayor and seconded by Senator Bailey. The committee reported the bill to the Senate floor.

- Senate Print 5227 (sponsor: Senator Hartman): Concurrent resolution proposing an amendment to Section 1 of Article 14 of the New York State Constitution in relation to the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex in Essex County. Motion moved and seconded; the committee reported the concurrent resolution to the finance committee.

- Senate Print 5286 (sponsor: Senator Sepulveda): Amends the Lien Law to prohibit self-service storage facility owners from enforcing liens on personal property held in storage during state disaster emergencies or county states of emergency. Motion moved by Senator Bailey and seconded by Senator Mayer. The motion failed on recorded nays: Senators O'Meara, Martinez, Rhodes and Flambeau; the transcript notes some senators without recommendation. The bill was not advanced to finance (transcript: "The bill was reported before").

- Senate Print 5968 (sponsor: Senator Parker): Amends the Civil Practice Law and Rules to increase the homestead exemption values that are exempt from civil judgments. Motion moved by Senator Liu and seconded by Senator Stavisky. The committee reported the bill to the Senate floor (transcript phrase: "reported before").

- Senate Print 6244 (sponsor: Senator Stupas): Amends the Executive Law to provide confidentiality for communications arising out of law enforcement peer-support counseling. Motion moved by Senator Canzoneri (Patrick) and seconded by Senator Rhodes. The committee reported the bill to the Senate floor.

Committee context and next steps

Committee Chair Bridal Armand Siegel opened and closed the session; the meeting lasted roughly seven minutes and proceeded as a series of brief bill descriptions followed by motions and voice votes. Where the transcript recorded individual negative votes or “without recommendation” positions, those are noted above. Most measures were advanced to the Senate floor; two items were specifically referred to the finance committee (the county court judgeship increase and the Mount Van Hoevenberg constitutional resolution).

The committee did not engage in extended debate on the measures during this session; when senators recorded questions, they were brief and did not appear in the official transcript excerpt. The listed motions, movers, seconders, recorded negatives and recorded “without recommendation” positions are reproduced from the committee transcript.

Votes at a glance

(See actions list below for movers, seconders and any named negative or without-recommendation positions.)

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